What psychedelics legalisation and decriminalisation looks like around the world
“Decriminalisation” can mean different things; generally it implies that people can possess, [cultivate], [and/or] use a personal amount of the substance despite it being illegal, although sometimes minor fines apply… criminalisation of drugs, including psychedelics, creates more harm than good. “What happens when you criminalise something is that people don’t want to talk about it with their doctors,” he says. “People can’t talk amongst themselves. It’s quite plausible that when something is criminalised, people might hesitate to call for emergency medical services.”
“It literally means that they’re not going to put resources behind arresting and prosecuting people,” says Mason Marks, a visiting professor at Harvard Law School and the senior fellow and lead of the school’s Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation. As of 2024, some psychedelics have been given a legal or decriminalised foothold in: parts of Central Africa (Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and Republic of the Congo), South Africa, Australia, the Bahamas, Brazil, the British Virgin Islands, Canada, the Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Israel, Jamaica, Mexico, Nepal, the Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Samoa, Spain, Switzerland and the United States… law enforcement is turning a semi-blind eye to mushroom sales in Oakland, California… “Years of state-level medical cannabis regulation demonstrated ‘currently accepted medical use’ as thousands of health care practitioners were licensed to recommend the drug to hundreds of thousands of patients,” Livingston continued. “To generate similar data for psychedelics, we must consider policies that ensure these programs will be economically functional while empowering participation from healthcare practitioners and patients.”
Original Article (BBC & MJ Biz Daily):
What psychedelics legalisation and decriminalisation looks like around the world & Mushroom Joe? How President Biden could reschedule psilocybin like marijuana
Artwork Fair Use: Justin Cooke