California Could Decriminalize Psychedelics Soon

Ben Adlin, writing for Marijuana Moment:

Just one week after voters in Oregon and Washington, D.C. passed ballot measures to scale back outright prohibitions on psychedelics by wide margins, a California lawmaker says he’ll introduce a bill to decriminalize the substances in his state.

Activists in San Francisco, meanwhile, are separately pushing local officials to make laws against psychedelic plants and fungi the jurisdiction’s lowest law enforcement priority.

Sen. Scott Wiener (D) said Tuesday that he plans to introduce the statewide decriminalization bill in Sacramento once the legislature returns in early January. Language of the proposal has yet to be released, but Wiener described the reform in a Twitter thread as an “important step toward a more rational, science-based, and public-health-focused approach to drugs.” […]

Wiener indicated that California’s forthcoming decriminalization bill would apply only to psychedelics, including psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca and ibogaine.

Amazing. Psychedelics are being decriminalized across the country, one state and municipality at a time.

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House Will Vote on Cannabis Legalization Bill in December

Natalie Fertig, writing for Politico:

A bill to remove federal penalties on marijuana and scrap some cannabis-related records will receive a vote on the House floor in December, according to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

In a letter to colleagues Monday, Hoyer outlined the legislative schedule for the lame-duck session in November and December. […]

Hoyer's letter did not specify which week the vote will come up, but the House is scheduled to be in session Dec. 1-4 and Dec. 7-10.

2020 has already been a huge year for drug policy reform and it looks like things aren’t slowing down anytime soon: the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on federally legalizing cannabis before it’s all over.

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Study Finds Psychedelic Treatment with Psilocybin Relieves Major Depression

Johns Hopkins Medicine:

In a small study of adults with major depression, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that two doses of the psychedelic substance psilocybin, given with supportive psychotherapy, produced rapid and large reductions in depressive symptoms, with most participants showing improvement and half of study participants achieving remission through the four-week follow-up.

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New Zealand Voters Narrowly Reject Nationwide Marijuana Referendum

Kyle Jaeger, writing for Marijuana Moment:

New Zealand voters have rejected a referendum to legalize marijuana, final results released by the government on Friday show.

While polls closed on October 17, New Zealand does not complete its count for ballot questions on Election Day. Preliminary results published last month showed the measure trailing by a notable margin, but so-called “special votes” still had to be counted before the outcome was finalized.

Those roughly 480,000 remaining votes did not move the needle far enough in favor of reform, however, the final data released by the government on Friday afternoon local time showed.

The referendum ended up falling short by a 48.4 percent in favor to 50.7 percent against margin.

Although drug policy reform in America is really on a roll at the moment, apparently voters in New Zealand aren’t quite ready to legalize cannabis at a national level yet.

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Every Single Drug Policy Ballot Measure Passed On Election Day

Kyle Jaeger, writing for Marijuana Moment:

Marijuana and drug policy reform swept across the board in Tuesday’s elections, giving advocates a major boost as they push to end federal prohibition.

Five more states legalized cannabis in some form and Oregon became the first state to legalize psilocybin mushrooms for therapy and also more broadly decriminalize drug possession. Meanwhile, voters in Washington, D.C. also approved a measure to decriminalize psychedelics in the nation’s capital.

While the presidential and many congressional races are still being tallied, the reforms passed decisively, further demonstrating that Americans of all political ideologies are ready to abandon the country’s prohibitionist approach to drugs. With the addition of Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota as adult-use marijuana states, one-third of the country’s population will live in a state where cannabis is legal after the laws take effect.

Although we’re still waiting to find out the full results from this year’s election, drug policy reform advocates already have a lot to celebrate:

• Oregon decriminalized all drugs and legalized psilocybin therapy

• Washington D.C. decriminalized natural psychedelics

• Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota legalized cannabis

• South Dakota and Mississippi legalized medical marijuana

• Four Ohio cities decriminalized cannabis

In fact, every single drug policy ballot measure passed on Tuesday. I knew there was considerable support for drug reform going into this election but didn’t anticipate such a sweeping victory, so I have to admit that I’m pleasantly surprised by this news! It just goes to show that public opinion on drug policy is evolving in a positive direction and the momentum seems to be picking up some steam. I’m excited to see what happens in this space over the next few years, and beyond.

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