Between 2005 and 2007, Denver, Colorado became the first major city in the nation to legalize small quantities of marijuana for personal use and then decriminalized marijuana altogether.
At local elections this Tuesday, Denver citizens will vote on applying the same decriminalization regimen to psilocybin, the active ingredient in the psychedelic mushroom otherwise known as Magic Mushrooms or ‘Shrooms.
Among votes for mayor and several city council seats, Denver voters will also vote on a pair of ballot initiatives. The first is the “Right to Survive,” which asks citizens to vote on whether it is a basic right for people to sleep in public and tents or live in their cars.
The second, Initiative 301, asks whether the city should pursue the decriminalization of Magic Mushrooms for personal use among persons 21 or older. The language of Initiative 301 reads:
The petition points out a study which suggests the use of Magic Mushrooms is “associated with decreased risk of opioid abuse” and the Global Drug Survey 2017 which dubbed psilocybin “the safest of all recreational drugs.”
The petition was promoted by Decriminalize Denver and is supported by the local Green Party and the Libertarian Party of Colorado, according to Ballotpedia.
The US Drug Enforcement Agency currently classifies psilocybin as a Schedule 1 drug and it is not, according to Citylab, legal anywhere in the US.
Denver’s vote is Tuesday, May 7 2019. Voting information is available at denvergov.org.
Image by chrissmith12 from Pixabay
[…] Initiative 301 asked voters if psilocybin should be decriminalized in quantities in accordance with personal use for citizens the age of 21 or over. The language of the bill reads: […]