Magic Mushrooms Are Decriminalized in DC as of Today

So is Ayahuasca.

DC Initiative 81, which passed with enormous support last fall, goes effective on Monday, March 15. Under the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020, natural psychedelics including magic mushrooms, ayahuasca, and mescaline are decriminalized, and so arrests for their possession or use is not important for DC police anymore.

The law passed through a 30-day Congressional review period and a threat by US Representative Andy Harris, who prevented the District from completely legalizing cannabis after a 2014 ballot initiative that passed with support from 70 percent of DC voters, to obstruct it. Harris, who set off a metal detector near the House floor this January, while carrying a hidden gun, had framed the matter as a public safety issue.

The initiative was raised by Melissa Lavasani, who claims natural psychedelics helped her defeat anxiety, severe depression, panic attacks, and suicidal ideation after her second child was born. The top executive at Dr. Bronner’s soap company, David Bronner, helped with the finances for the campaign, which had to overcome the restrictions caused by the pandemic to gather signatures and get on the ballot last fall.

On Monday, Lavasani’s Plant Medicine Coalition announced it would offer community grants to organizations that offer education, training, and other work that supports the use of natural psychedelics, which have manifested fascinating results in the treatment of depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc.

Last September, Johns Hopkins’ Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research was opened.

Source:

https://www.washingtonian.com

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