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Seattle\u2019s City Council approved a resolution Monday to decriminalize noncommercial activity around a wide range of psychedelic substances<\/a>, including the cultivation and sharing of psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, ibogaine and non-peyote-derived mescaline.<\/p>\n The landmark measure extends what is already Seattle city policy not to arrest or prosecute people for personal drug possession to further protect the cultivation and sharing of psychedelic plants and fungi for \u201creligious, spiritual, healing, or personal growth practices.\u201d<\/p>\n The legislation, passed by a unanimous vote, declares \u201cthat the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of anyone engaging in entheogen-related activities should be among The City of Seattle\u2019s lowest enforcement priorities\u201d and requests the city\u2019s police department \u201cmove toward the formal codification and adoption of that practice as departmental policy.\u201d<\/p>\n Further, it expresses the council\u2019s intent \u201cto determine what changes would be necessary to protect from arrest or prosecution individuals who cultivate entheogens\u201d and to make those changes through a subsequent ordinance.<\/p>\n \u201cThese nonaddictive natural substances have real potential in clinical and therapeutic settings to make a really significant difference in people\u2019s lives,\u201d Councilmember Andrew Lewis, who introduced the resolution, said before the vote. \u201cThis resolution really sets the stage as the first significant action in the state of Washington to move this policy forward.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEntheogens, commonly known psychedelics, have been shown to benefit the well-being of individuals suffering from depression, severe anxiety, problematic substance use, post-traumatic stress, end-of-life anxiety, grief, and intergenerational trauma,\u201d a press release<\/a> from the councilman\u2019s office said. \u201cThese and other physical and mental conditions are plaguing many communities, which have been further demonstrated to be exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n The resolution<\/a> was inspired in part by the City Council\u2019s interest in reducing opioid-related deaths. Members in June formally asked a local task force studying the overdose crisis\u00a0to examine \u201cpublic policy governing psychedelic medicines.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Three months later, the task force recommended the city decriminalize psychedelics<\/a> and consider removing criminal penalties around all drugs.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, members of the advocacy group Decrim Nature Seattle has spent more than two years lobbying the council to end penalties for cultivating and sharing psychedelics. In May, the group submitted a draft ordinance to Lewis\u2019s office at the councilmember\u2019s request.<\/p>\n Decrim Nature Seattle (DNS) on Monday cheered the council\u2019s adoption of the resolution, noting that Seattle is now the largest city in the country to have passed a decriminalization measure.<\/p>\n RESOLUTION PASSES!<\/p>\n 9-0 UNANIMOUS VOTE! \u2014 Decrim Nature Seattle (@DecrimNatureSEA) October 4, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re happy that our years of effort have paid off in making this a reality,\u201d said Kody Zalewski, DNS co-director and chair of policy and research, who thanked volunteers for making the victory possible. \u201cThis is only the very beginning of conducting a much larger push to expand access to psychedelic medicine across Washington State, and codifying the intent of this resolution via citywide ordinance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPublic opinion is changing, and many people are waking up to the fact that the War on Drugs leads to unnecessary incarceration, impedes access to profoundly effectively medicine and impinges on both religious freedom and personal liberty,\u201d Zalewski continued. \u201cSocial progress rarely happens through sweeping changes, but rather occurs from winning one small battle at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n Tatiana Luz Quintana, the group\u2019s co-director and co-chair of education and outreach, stressed the importance of crafting local and state policy around psychedelics that guarantees access for marginalized and oppressed groups, for example by including the right to grow and share psychedelic plants with other adults. Home cultivation of marijuana, by contrast, remains illegal in Washington State.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we have been following in the footsteps of cannabis decriminalization, we must reflect on the policies that fell short,\u201d Quintana said. \u201cCreating equitable access to psychedelics must be at the forefront of how we continue to move this legislation forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Lewis, the councilmember who introduced the resolution, told Marijuana Moment in a recent interview<\/a>\u00a0that he believes \u201cwe\u2019re in a position where, I think, we could see movement pretty quickly from the state,\u201d noting that he\u2019s received very little blowback from constituents about his own proposal.<\/p>\n Last month, advocates announced a push to put a measure on Washington\u2019s 2022 ballot<\/a> that would decriminalize all drugs and invest state money in treatment and recovery.<\/p>\n During debate on the local measure on Monday, Councilmember Kshama Sawant questioned why the vehicle for the policy change was a resolution rather than a formal ordinance that would amend the city\u2019s municipal code.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have not pushed for resolutions in place of ordinances when it is possible and realistic and necessary from a political and moral standpoint for the council to have an ordinance passed to decriminalize psychedelics,\u201d she said, adding that to decriminalize \u201cin fact, rather than just in rhetoric, would require an ordinance, and it is the City Council, not the police department that has the authority to pass such an ordinance.\u201d<\/p>\n The version<\/a> of the Seattle resolution passed<\/a> by the City Council includes some minor changes to an initial draft that was heard late last month by the council\u2019s Public Safety and Human Services Committee. Specifically, it removes a provision that would have requested the city\u2019s Office of Intergovernmental Relations draft a decriminalization bill for legislators to introduce at the state level. It also replaces a reference to \u201cNative Americans\u201d with \u201cIndigenous people of the American Southwest.\u201d<\/p>\n The latter change is in reference to the historical use of peyote, a cactus endemic to Mexico and parts of the American Southwest, which would not be decriminalized under the council\u2019s resolution. The measure specifically excludes peyote from its definition of entheogens, citing its vulnerable ecological status and unique cultural significance to certain Indigenous groups.<\/p>\n Peyote matures slowly and is currently categorized by conservationists as \u201cvulnerable\u201d after an uptick in\u00a0illicit harvesting. The cactus currently has no federal protection in the U.S., while in Mexico only Indigenous people can legally harvest it.<\/p>\n Groups such as the National Council of Native American Churches, which uses peyote ceremonially, have been urging activists and lawmakers not to include peyote on lists of allowed plants and fungi. The group argued in a letter last year that the cactus should be \u201cpreserved for utilization by and for Indigenous peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n In Santa Cruz, one of the first U.S. cities to decriminalize psychedelic plants and fungi, the City Council last month amended its policy to specifically exclude peyote<\/a>\u00a0as well as other cacti that contain mescaline.<\/p>\n The change was supported by leaders of Decriminalize Santa Cruz (DSC), which helped pass the original measure. In a statement, the group apologized \u201cfor our lack of cultural sensitivity surrounding the Peyote cacti (Lophophora williamsii) and discounting Indigenous consultation in the process of decriminalizing entheogenic plants and fungi.\u201d<\/p>\n How to reform drug laws while respecting Indigenous peoples\u2019 centuries-old relationship with the threatened cactus has caused some controversy within the psychedelic advocacy community, however, and not all activists agree with the peyote carveout.<\/p>\n Carlos Plazola, the co-founder and chair of Decriminalize Nature National, opposed the change in Santa Cruz and spoke Monday during the Seattle City Council\u2019s public comment period, arguing that prohibiting personal cultivation of peyote will put the cactus at further risk of extinction.<\/p>\n \u201cFor 100 years plus, we\u2019ve had peyote criminalized, and it\u2019s only led to its decline,\u201d he told the council, though he said he nevertheless supported the council\u2019s passage of the resolution.<\/p>\n The Seattle measure notes that \u201centheogens have been recognized as sacred to human cultures around the world for centuries, and continue to be revered and utilized to this day by venerable and sincere cultural and spiritual leaders and communities throughout the world and the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n Lewis, for his part, said the issue of whether to include peyote is \u201ccertainly a conversation I\u2019m willing to continue\u201d if the policy is crafted into a formal city ordinance.<\/p>\n Like much of the rest of the country, Washington State is contemplating major changes in how it treats drug use. Earlier this year, state lawmakers considered legislation that would have removed all penalties<\/a> for possession of relatively small, \u201cpersonal use\u201d amounts of drugs and instead invested in treatment and recovery services. While that bill died in committee, lawmakers from both parties acknowledged at the time that the state\u2019s drug control apparatus was broken.<\/p>\n Shortly thereafter, the state Supreme Court overturned Washington\u2019s felony law against drug possession completely<\/a>, sending lawmakers scrambling to replace the law. Ultimately they approved a modest reform, reducing the state\u2019s felony charge for drug possession to a misdemeanor<\/a>\u00a0and earmarking more money for treatment. But the law\u2019s criminal penalties will expire in 2023, an effort to encourage lawmakers to revisit the policy.<\/p>\n Jurisdictions across the country are increasingly removing or reducing penalties around drug possession and consumption, especially when it comes to psychedelics. Since Denver in 2019 became the first U.S. city to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms, a number of states and municipalities have made similar changes to dismantle the drug war.<\/p>\n Oregon voters passed a pair of initiatives last November to\u00a0legalize psilocybin therapy<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0decriminalize possession of all drugs<\/a>. On the local level, activists in\u00a0Portland are mounting\u00a0a push to have local lawmakers extend psychedelics decriminalization<\/a>\u00a0to include cultivation, gifting and ceremonial use.<\/p>\n Washington, D.C. voters also approved a ballot measure last year to\u00a0deprioritize enforcement of laws criminalizing psychedelics<\/a>.<\/p>\n In California, activists last month were cleared to begin collecting signatures for a historic initiative to legalize psilocybin mushrooms<\/a>. The cities of Oakland<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Santa Cruz<\/a>\u00a0have already enacted psychedelics decriminalization,\u00a0and last year Oakland lawmakers\u00a0approved a follow-up resolution<\/a>\u00a0that calls for the policy change to be adopted statewide and for local jurisdictions to be allowed to permit healing ceremonies where people could use psychedelics.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Denver activists have\u00a0set their eyes on broader psilocybin reform<\/a>, with plans to allow noncommercial gifting and communal use of the substance.<\/p>\n Detroit currently stands to become one of the next major cities to decriminalize psychedelics, with the reform proposal making the local ballot for this November<\/a>.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in Michigan, the Ann Arbor City Council has already elected to make enforcement of laws prohibition psychedelics like psilocybin, ayahuasca and DMT\u00a0among the city\u2019s lowest priorities<\/a>. And last week the City Council in Grand Rapids advanced its own decriminalization resolution<\/a>, but it fell far short of what activists had hoped. Rather than making any formal changes to city policy, it merely expresses support for future reform.<\/p>\n Massachusetts cities that have enacted the policy change include\u00a0Northampton<\/a>,\u00a0Somerville<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Cambridge<\/a>. In July, state lawmakers heard testimony about a bill to create a task force charged with\u00a0studying the implications of legalizing psychedelics like psilocybin and ayahuasca<\/a>.<\/p>\n The governor of Connecticut recently signed legislation recently that includes language requiring the state to carry out\u00a0a study into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin mushrooms<\/a>.<\/p>\n Texas also recently enacted a bill to require the state\u00a0study the medical benefits of psychedelics for military veterans<\/a>.<\/p>\n A New York lawmaker introduced a bill in June that would require the state to establish an institute to similarly\u00a0research the medical value of psychedelics<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Maine House of Representatives\u00a0passed a drug decriminalization bill<\/a>\u00a0this year, but it later\u00a0died in the Senate<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the federal level, congressional lawmakers in May filed the\u00a0first-ever legislation to federally decriminalize possession<\/a>\u00a0of illicit substances.<\/p>\n In a setback for advocates, the U.S. House of Representatives recently voted against a proposal from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) that\u00a0would have eased rules that currently limit research<\/a> into Schedule I drugs, but it picked up considerably more votes this round than\u00a0when the congresswoman first introduced it<\/a>\u00a0in 2019.<\/p>\n Report provisions of separate, House-passed spending legislation identify a need to\u00a0expand cannabis and psychedelics research<\/a>, including into the potential therapeutic value of psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0for military veterans suffering from a host of mental health conditions.<\/p>\n The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) also recently announced funding for a study into whether psilocybin can help people quit smoking cigarettes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Elon Musk Says People Should Be \u2018Open To Psychedelics\u2019 And Predicts The Next Generation Of Politicians Will Normalize The Substances<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Seattle Becomes Largest U.S. City To Decriminalize Psychedelics<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Seattle\u2019s City Council approved a resolution Monday to decriminalize noncommercial activity around a wide range of psychedelic substances, including the cultivation and sharing of psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, ibogaine and non-peyote-derived mescaline. The landmark measure extends what is already Seattle city policy not to arrest or prosecute people for personal drugContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":50312,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50311"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50313,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50311\/revisions\/50313"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
THANK YOU EVERYONE AND THANK YOU @SeattleCouncil<\/a> @CMAndrewJLewis<\/a>!![\"💯\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/1f4af.png\")
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\nRead More: Seattle Becomes Largest U.S. City To Decriminalize Psychedelics<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"