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A Washington State county has become the latest U.S. jurisdiction to locally deprioritize enforcement of laws against psychedelics like psilocybin and ayahuasca.<\/p>\n
The three members of the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Monday to approve a resolution to make enforcement of psychedelics laws among the jurisdiction\u2019s lowest priorities, while also voicing support for state and federal decriminalization.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like community is the theme for me as a commissioner, and this issue is showing up in spades,\u201d Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour said<\/a>. \u201cI hope that we can be leaders on this horizon\u2014not only in our county, community and in the state\u2014by taking a stand for something that\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n The board held a hearing<\/a> on an earlier version of the resolution last week, taking testimony from advocates, as well as the county\u2019s sheriff and prosecuting attorney. The law enforcement officials raised concerns about a policy that would restrict them from enforcing state law and also suggested that psychedelics represent a small fraction of cases they handle.<\/p>\n But the board moved forward with a revised resolution nonetheless, recognizing that while they can\u2019t unilaterally decriminalize plant-based medicines that are controlled substances, they can symbolically show where they stand during a time when the issue is receiving significant attention at the state and federal level.<\/p>\n \u201cSome would say this is performative, but I think it\u2019s OK to be putting that stake in the ground, knowing that this is going to transform how a lot of mental health is done,\u201d Commissioner Kate Dean said.<\/p>\n The measure\u2019s \u201cwhereas\u201d section states that entheogenic substances have long been held sacred by indigenous communities, and a growing body of research has demonstrated that psychedelics hold significant therapeutic potential in the treatment of mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).<\/p>\n It says that decriminalization \u201cpromotes equitable access by protecting against commercialization and regulatory frameworks that limit access, ensuring that the benefits of entheogens remain accessible to all adult members of the community who can thus pursue their own chosen healing path.\u201d<\/p>\n The resolution also notes that numerous localities across the U.S., including Seattle<\/a> and Port Townsend in Washington State<\/a>, have already enacted legislation to deprioritize psychedelics enforcement over recent years.<\/p>\n The resolution says that \u201cwhile recognizing that changing federal or state laws or penalties is beyond the scope of its authority, the Board of Commissioners wishes to acknowledge the healing potentials of entheogens for its local community and to declare its desire not to expend County resources in any investigation, detention, arrest, or prosecution arising out of alleged violations of state and federal law regarding entheogens.\u201d<\/p>\n The body resolved to support state and federal decriminalization, while also committing to \u201cadd to its agenda for the 2024 state legislative session support for full decriminalization of entheogens, including advocating for no regulated legalization of any entheogens without full decriminalization occurring first or within the same legislative session.\u201d<\/p>\n It was further resolved that the board \u201crequests\u201d that law enforcement make psychedelics criminalization among its lowest priorities and that no county resources be used to support such enforcement.<\/p>\n Additionally, the measure encourages county agencies to \u201cdevelop nuanced and adaptive responses to the use of controlled substances to include harm reduction strategies, recognition of substance use disorder as a public health issue, and to use the criminal justice system as a pathway to treatment and recovery for individuals and to uphold public safety for our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n And it \u201crecommends that federal and state enforcement agencies move towards a decriminalization strategy for adult use of entheogens.\u201d<\/p>\n This action takes place in the background of several relevant drug policy developments in the state, including the recent passage of a bill to create a psilocybin therapy pilot program<\/a> that was sent to the governor last month.<\/p>\n Neighboring Oregon has also been issuing the state\u2019s first licenses for regulated psilocybin healing centers<\/a> where adults can receive the psychedelic treatment in a medically supervised environment, which are being established following voter approval of a historic 2020 ballot initiative.<\/p>\n \u2014 Lawmakers across the country have pursued psychedelics policy reform this session as the local movement has rapidly expanded over recent years.<\/p>\n For example, a California bill to legalize the possession of certain psychedelics and facilitated use of the substances is heading to the Senate floor under an accelerated process<\/a> that is allowing it to skip further committee consideration.<\/p>\n The Colorado House of Representatives approved a Senate-passed bill last week to create a regulatory framework for legal psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0under a voter-approved initiative.<\/p>\n The Minnesota House recently passed an omnibus health bill that contains\u00a0provisions to create a psychedelics task force<\/a>\u00a0meant to prepare the state for possible legalization.<\/p>\n Last month, a Republican North Carolina lawmaker and a bipartisan group of cosponsors filed a bill to create a $5 million grant program to support research into\u00a0the therapeutic potential of psilocybin and MDMA<\/a>\u00a0and to create a Breakthrough Therapies Research Advisory Board to oversee the effort.<\/p>\n A Washington State bill to promote research into psilocybin and create a pilot program to provide therapeutic access to the psychedelic for mental health treatment\u00a0is heading to the governor\u2019s desk<\/a>\u00a0following final approval in the Senate.<\/p>\n A Nevada Senate committee approved a revised bill last month that would\u00a0create a new working group to study psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0and develop a plan to allow regulated access for therapeutic purposes.<\/p>\n The Hawaii Senate approved a bill last month to create an advisory council to look into possible regulations to\u00a0provide access to federal \u201cbreakthrough therapies\u201d<\/a>\u00a0like psilocybin and MDMA.<\/p>\n An analysis published in an American Medical Association journal last year concluded that\u00a0a majority of states will legalize psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0by 2037, based on statistical modeling of policy trends.<\/p>\n A national poll published last month found that a\u00a0majority of U.S. voters support legal access to psychedelics therapy<\/a>\u00a0and back federally decriminalizing substances like psilocybin and MDMA.<\/p>\n Colorado Lawmakers Approve Bills To Allow Online Marijuana Sales And Bolster Professional Protections, Sending Them To Governor<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Dick Culbert<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Washington State County Approves Psychedelics Decriminalization Resolution<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A Washington State county has become the latest U.S. jurisdiction to locally deprioritize enforcement of laws against psychedelics like psilocybin and ayahuasca. The three members of the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Monday to approve a resolution to make enforcement of psychedelics laws among the jurisdiction\u2019s lowestContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":64621,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64620"}],"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=64620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64622,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64620\/revisions\/64622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Washington State County Approves Psychedelics Decriminalization Resolution<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"