Oakland Council May Board Magic Bus by Decriminalizing Natural Psychedelics

Erin Allday and Sarah Ravani, writing for San Francisco Chronicle:

Oakland could become the second city in the country to decriminalize certain natural psychedelics — including “magic mushrooms” — if elected leaders approve a resolution that would instruct law enforcement to stop investigating and prosecuting people using the drugs.

The resolution is scheduled for its first public hearing before the City Council’s public safety committee Tuesday night and could go before the full council as early as June 4. It applies only to psychedelics that come from plants or fungi, not synthetic drugs like LSD or MDMA, also known as ecstasy.

Less than a month after Denver voted to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms, another U.S. city is on the verge of decriminalizing natural psychedelics. Decriminalize Nature Oakland is the education campaign leading the charge to decriminalize several entheogenic plants, fungi, and natural sources in Oakland, CA:

  • Mushrooms

  • Cacti

  • Iboga-containing plants

  • Extracted combinations of plants similar to Ayahuasca

The definition of “natural psychedelics” will be limited to those containing either indole amines, tryptamines, or phenethlamines.

It’s been amazing watching the psychedelic legalization movement winning recently. Now the million dollar question is, “Will Oakland be able to keep the streak going?”