Politics

Fourth Massachusetts city approves psychedelics [and broader drug] reform…

“It properly frames these plants as belonging somewhere other than Schedule I”, said [City Council Member] Owen Zaret… the resolution is non-binding and doesn’t require police to deprioritize enforcement of laws prohibiting psychedelics – as has been the case in other cities across the U.S… excepting Lophophora and animal-derived controlled substances. [City Council Member Thomas Peake said, “We are not decriminalizing anything. We don’t have the power to decriminalize anything because city council members don’t set drug policy. But what we can do is say to the folks who actually may have some power on these matters, hey look, we are a body that was elected by our community, who deeply cares about our community and we see people in our community who benefit from these things that are currently illegal and isn’t that something we should perhaps reconsider…]

[Easthampton City Council] “maintains that the use and possession of all controlled substances should be understood first and primarily as an issue of public health by city departments, agencies, boards, commissions, and all employees of the city.” WHEREAS: the City Council of Somerville (9-0), the City Council of Cambridge (8-1), and the City Council of Northampton (8-0) passed similar resolutions following approval of their legal departments as well as decriminalization by Oakland, Denver, Ann Arbor, Santa Cruz… Washington D.C… WHEREAS that American cities have long possessed an inferred constitutional right to regulate commerce and public safety within their jurisdictions, a principle acknowledged by the U.S. Department of Justice Cole Memorandum that permitted states and localities to deprioritize law enforcement of cannabis charges… herein defined as the full spectrum of psychedelic plants, fungi, and natural materials containing indole amines, tryptamines, phenethylamines, including psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, cacti, and iboga… excepting Lophophora [peyote] and animal-derived controlled substances.

Original Article (Easthampton City Council):
Easthampton City Council & City Council Agenda & Marijuana Moment
Artwork Fair Use: Public Domain