Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Santa Cruz decriminalizes natural psychedelics

Santa Cruz decriminalizes natural psychedelics – Santa Cruz Sentinel - Jessica A. Yorke:

January 29, 2020 - "Following in the footsteps of Oakland and Denver, Colorado, city leaders unanimously agreed Tuesday night to decriminalize adult use, possession and cultivation of entheogenic psychoactive plants and fungi. Known in one of its more popular forms as “magic mushrooms,” the substances remain illegal on a federal level, but city law enforcement has been directed to not spend resources on its criminal enforcement locally.

"The Santa Cruz City Council decision, first championed last year by Mayor Justin Cummings and Councilmembers Sandy Brown and Drew Glover, came after a vulnerable outpouring of community testimony, many sharing personal mental health struggles and efforts to successfully treat their symptoms....

"Denver voters passed a ballot measure in May [that] decriminalized psilocybin, and in June, the Oakland City Council passed a resolution decriminalizing entheogenic plants in general. Santa Cruz’s resolution this week, making it the third city in the U.S. to take such a step, declares city resources will not be expended on the investigation and arrest of persons 21 years of age and older 'solely for the personal use and personal possession of entheogenic plants and fungi listed on the Federal Schedule 1 list and that such activities should be considered among the lowest law enforcement priorities for the City of Santa Cruz.' Sale to, use and cultivation by those younger than 21, however, are not protected....

"Decriminalize Santa Cruz co-founder Sean Cutler, who, along with Julian Hodge, successfully lobbied for the change in city criminalization of psychedelics over an eight-month period, ... ... said after the meeting that the council vote represented forward movement.

“'The drug war needs to be ended in small deliberate steps,' Cutler said. 'We acknowledge that the U.S. government has spent 50 years indoctrinating Americans to believe that alcohol is good and everything else is bad, evil, for poor people. They have stigmatizing everything but alcohol and cigarettes'....

"Santa Cruz’s resolution cites the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s October 2018 decision to grant 'breakthrough therapy' designation for studies on psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression, and refers also to the use of the plants in traditional natured-based healing therapies."

Read more: https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2020/01/29/santa-cruz-decriminalizes-natural-psychedelics/
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