California Senate approves plan to decriminalize psychedelics

A bill to legalize the possession of psychedelic substances in California was approved by the California Senate on Tuesday. The bill, sponsored by Democratic Senator Scott Wiener, who had has already been approved by three committees, was passed by a vote of 21 to 16 senators.

https://twitter.com/Scott_Wiener/status/1399867521612881921

If enacted, the bill would eliminate criminal penalties for the possession or sharing of many psychedelics—including psilocybin mushrooms, DMT, ibogaine, LSD, and MDMA—for adults aged 21 and older.

«This approach moves us away from the failure of the war on drugs, which was based on the erroneous premise that criminalizing, arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment of people who use drugs will somehow deter drug use and improve public safety,» Mr. Wiener said before the vote. «If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past half-century, it’s that throwing people in jail for using drugs doesn’t stop drug use.»

The measure Originally included provisions regarding the expungement of criminal records for individuals previously convicted of offenses involving the possession of psychedelic substances, but this provision was removed during its most recent committee review last month as part of an amendment proposed by the sponsor.

Under the bill, the State Department of Public Health would be required to establish a working group «tasked with studying and making recommendations regarding regulatory systems that California could adopt to promote safe and equitable access to certain substances in authorized legal contexts .» These recommendations would be due by January 1, 2024.

With regard to psilocybin in particular, the legislation would repeal the provisions of California law that prohibit the cultivation or transportation of «any spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms, or any other material» containing the psychoactive ingredient.

Mescaline derived from peyote is specifically excluded from the reform provisions of the bill «due to the near-threat status of the peyote plant and the special significance that peyote holds in Native American spirituality.» This is a controversial issue overall, with advocates and Indigenous groups divided on the role of peyote in a model for psychedelic reform.