Chris Roberts, writing for Marijuana Moment:
The City Council’s Public Safety Committee voted—with three ayes and one abstention—to advance to the full Council a measure that would declare enforcement of laws prohibiting the possession of “entheogenic plants” among adults the “lowest priority” for police.
The measure would also seek to block officials from using “any city funds or resources to assist” in enforcing bans on naturally derived psychedelics.
If the resolution sponsored by City Councilmember Noel Gallo is enacted, Oakland would follow Denver—where voters narrowly approved a psilocybin decriminalization measure earlier this month—in declaring its support for allowing adults to possess certain psychedelics without fear of arrest, fines and imprisonment.
With last night’s victory, Oakland is now one step closer to decriminalizing multiple natural psychedelics in one fell swoop. The resolution will go in front of the full city council next Tuesday. If approved, the city will join the small list of other places in America (New Mexico, Louisiana, and Denver) that have decriminalized natural psychedelics in some shape or form.