As a correctional officer at a notoriously violent prison in northern Alabama, he spends 40 hours a week — on shifts as long as 16 hours — locked inside with 1,500 inmates. The facility he works at is among the most overcrowded and understaffed in the country. He describes a lawless parallel universe where murders…
A resolution to decriminalize psilocybin and other psychedelics will go before a Berkeley, California City Council … Councilmembers Rigel Robinson and Cheryl Davila are sponsoring the resolution, which does not allow for commercial sales or manufacturing. The lawmakers provided background information on the measure in a report to their colleagues and the mayor, describing the medical potential…
Unlike last month’s landmark initiative in Denver, which specifically targeted psychedelic mushrooms, this broader resolution groups together a variety of plants and fungi under the banner of entheogenic plants or plant compounds. The term entheogen generally refers to psychoactive substances used in religious or spiritual contexts. The Oakland resolution more specifically defines the term in reference…
Entheogenic plants have long been used in religious and cultural contexts. “Hemp oils, mushrooms and yerba buenas — an aromatic plant known for its medicinal properties — that was our Walgreens. We didn’t have a Walgreens. We didn’t have a way to pay for any drugs. These are plants we have known for thousands of…
The resolution was presented by [an] Oakland City Council member. “We have many mental challenges on our streets today, and it’s important to be able to freely provide whatever medicinal support we can, including the use of plants that have beneficial effects for thousands of years,” Noel Gallo said. Supporters hope the decision will begin a…
The City Council voted unanimously to decriminalize the adult use and possession of magic mushrooms and other entheogenic, or psychoactive, plants and fungi. Denver voters in May approved a similar measure for people 21 and older. The vote makes the investigation and arrest of adults who grow, possess, use or distribute entheogenic plants one of…
While it’s true that peyote, like cannabis, was politically packaged as a sheep’s in wolfs clothing in the late 1960’s to ensure its classification in Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), reversing that original CSA classification is a more difficult task for peyote than cannabis. The 2 principal reasons for this include: 1)…
