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Oakland activists are hoping to expand upon the city\u2019s current psychedelics decriminalization ordinance by creating a community-based model through which people could legally purchase entheogenic substances from local producers.<\/p>\n
In 2019, the California city became the first in the U.S. to broadly decriminalize a wide range of psychedelics<\/a> like psilocybin and ayahuasca.<\/p>\n Now, advocates are announcing a \u201cGo Local\u201d Legislative Initiative to build upon their progress, and they have the backing of a key member of the City Council. Essentially, they are staging a year-long project to solicit feedback on how best to provide people with lawful access to entheogenic substances, leading up to the planned introduction of city-level legislation that would accomplish that goal in 2022.<\/p>\n A post shared by Decriminalize Nature (@decriminalizenature)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Decriminalize Nature and related groups have been behind a multitude of local psychedelics reform efforts across the country, enacting decriminalization ordinances in cities in states like California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Washington.<\/p>\n Building upon the initial Oakland decriminalization of the personal use and cultivation of entheogenic plants and fungi, local lawmakers there approved a second resolution in late 2020<\/a> that urges California legislators to allow local jurisdictions to permit healing ceremonies where people could use entheogenic substances.<\/p>\n Advocates are now preparing to push Oakland to make the move on its own in the interim.<\/p>\n Carlos Plazola, chair of Decriminalize Nature, told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview last week that \u201cpart of [the future legislation] is sales and distribution and testing and holding space\u201d for psychedelics ceremonies. But unlike with cannabis commercialization that\u2019s been enacted in California and elsewhere, this would be focused on support the local economy, he said.<\/p>\n A post shared by Decriminalize Nature (@decriminalizenature)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n By doing so, \u201cyou actually do bring other values into the equation beyond profiteering, because it becomes part of the story that people want to support in the community,\u201d Plazola said.<\/p>\n The process of drafting the legislation, which will be championed by Councilmember Noel Gallo (D), will begin with a series of public workshops and getting input from stakeholders and advocates across the country. The goal is to have a measure presented to the Oakland City Council early in the summer of 2022. And, ideally, other activist chapters in additional cities across the U.S. will follow suit, Plazola said.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an outline of possible reforms that are being considered for the forthcoming legislation:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Examples of Zoning Changes<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Examples of business taxation and permitting changes<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Examples of New Regulations<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Examples of disincentives to outside control and value extraction<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOur indigenous ancestors have used these plant medicines safely and successfully for thousands of years, despite efforts to oppress and extinguish their use,\u201d Gallo said in a press release. \u201cSo, it makes sense that the benefits of the discovery or rediscovery of the healing power of these entheogens by the west are enjoyed first and foremost by indigenous people, communities of color, and local communities, in general.\u201d<\/p>\n A post shared by Decriminalize Nature (@decriminalizenature)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Beyond Oakland, local officials in two other California cities\u2014\u00a0Santa Cruz<\/a> and Arcata<\/a>\u2014have effectively decriminalized a wide range of psychedelics<\/p>\n Statewide, a bill to legalize psychedelics in California advanced through the Senate and two Assembly committees this year before being pulled by the sponsor to buy more time to generate support among lawmakers<\/a>. The plan is to take up the reform during next year\u2019s second half of the legislative session, and the senator behind the measure\u00a0says he\u2019s confident it will pass<\/a>.<\/p>\n California activists are separately collecting signatures for a\u00a0ballot initiative to legalize psilocybin mushrooms<\/a>\u00a0in the state.<\/p>\n Outside of the state, psychedelics reform is being pursued by legislators and activists across the country.<\/p>\n Seattle\u2019s City Council recently approved a resolution 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 Detroit could be one of the next to enact a policy change<\/a>, with voters set to weigh in on a local ballot measure next month to decriminalize entheogenic substances.<\/p>\n At the same time that local advocates are pursuing reform, a pair of Michigan state senators introduced a bill last month to legalize the possession, cultivation and delivery<\/a>\u00a0of an array of plant- and fungus-derived psychedelics like psilocybin and mescaline. If voters in the state\u2019s most populous city approve the local measure, it could make state lawmakers take a more serious look at broader reform.<\/p>\n Also in Michigan, the Grand Rapids City Council approved a resolution last month calling for decriminalization of a wide range of psychedelics<\/a>. The Ann Arbor City Council has already elected to make enforcement of laws prohibition psychedelics like psilocybin, ayahuasca and DMT among the city\u2019s lowest priorities<\/a>\u2014and lawmakers recently followed up by declaring September\u00a0Entheogenic Plants and Fungi Awareness Month<\/a>.<\/p>\n After Ann Arbor legislators passed that decriminalization resolution last year, the Washtenaw County prosecutor announced\u00a0that his office will not be pursuing charges<\/a>\u00a0over possessing entheogenic plants and fungi, \u201cregardless of the amount at issue.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 The top Democrat in the Florida Senate filed a bill last month that would require the state to\u00a0research the medical benefits of psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0such as psilocybin and MDMA.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Texas enacted a law directing state officials to\u00a0study psychedelics\u2019 medical value<\/a>.<\/p>\n The governor of Connecticut signed a bill in June that includes language requiring the state to carry out\u00a0a study into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin mushrooms<\/a>.<\/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 pass a resolution<\/a>\u00a0decriminalizing the cultivation, gifting and ceremonial use of a wide range of psychedelics.<\/p>\n Washington, D.C. voters also approved a ballot measure last year to\u00a0deprioritize enforcement of laws criminalizing psychedelics<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Massachusetts,\u00a0the Northampton City Council passed a resolution<\/a>\u00a0in April stipulating that no government or police funds should be used to enforce laws criminalizing people for using or possessing entheogenic plants and fungi.\u00a0Somerville<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Cambridge<\/a>\u00a0have also moved to effectively decriminalize psychedelics.<\/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 Meanwhile, Denver activists who successfully led the 2019 campaign to make the city\u00a0the first in the U.S. to decriminalize psilocybin possession<\/a>\u00a0have\u00a0set their eyes on broader reform<\/a>, with plans in the works to end the criminalization of noncommercial gifting and communal use of the psychedelic. A city panel there is recommending expansion of the decriminalization policy<\/a> to cover gifting and social use.<\/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 removed a spending bill rider<\/a>\u00a0that advocates say has restricted federal funds for research into Schedule I drugs, including psychedelics such as psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine. However, 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 also touch on the need to\u00a0expand cannabis and psychedelics research<\/a>. The panel urged NIDA to support expanded marijuana studies, for example. It further says that federal health agencies should\u00a0pursue research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0for military veterans suffering from a host of mental health conditions.<\/p>\n There was an attempt by a Republican congressman to attach language into a defense spending bill that would promote research into psychedelics therapy for active duty military members,\u00a0but it was not made in order<\/a>\u00a0in the House Rules Committee last month.<\/p>\n For what it\u2019s worth, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), a longstanding champion of marijuana reform in Congress, said this month that he intends to help bring the psychedelics reform movement to Capitol Hill<\/a>\u00a0\u201cthis year.\u201d<\/p>\n Report provisions of separate, House-passed spending legislation also touch on the need to\u00a0expand cannabis and psychedelics research<\/a>. The panel urged NIDA to support expanded marijuana studies, for example. It further says that federal health agencies should\u00a0pursue research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0for military veterans suffering from a host of mental health conditions.<\/p>\n NIDA also recently announced it\u2019s funding a study into\u00a0whether psilocybin can help people quit smoking cigarettes<\/a>.<\/p>\n An official with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also said at a recent congressional hearing that the agency is \u201cvery closely\u201d following research into the\u00a0potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0like MDMA for military veterans.<\/p>\n In May, lawmakers in Congress filed the\u00a0first-ever legislation to federally decriminalize possession<\/a>\u00a0of illicit substances.<\/p>\n Nevada Sold More Than $1 Billion In Marijuana In One Year, Officials Report<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Oakland Psychedelics Activists Launch Initiative To Legalize Community-Based Sales With Support From City Council<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Oakland activists are hoping to expand upon the city\u2019s current psychedelics decriminalization ordinance by creating a community-based model through which people could legally purchase entheogenic substances from local producers. In 2019, the California city became the first in the U.S. to broadly decriminalize a wide range of psychedelics like psilocybinContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":50567,"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\/50566"}],"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\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50566"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50568,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50566\/revisions\/50568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Oakland Psychedelics Activists Launch Initiative To Legalize Community-Based Sales With Support From City Council<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"