Washington, D.C. decriminalizes psychedelic plants

Voters in Washington, D.C. overwhelmingly approved Initiative 81, decriminalizing psychedelic plants. The measure does not legalize psychedelic plants and mushrooms, but recategorizes them «as the lowest priority of law enforcement by police», according to the initiative's wording.

The Initiative has been approved at 76%. It concerns plants containing :

• Ibogaine (Ayahuasca)
• Dimethyltryptamine
• Mescaline
• Psilocybin
• Psilocyne

The District of Columbia follows Denver, Colorado, Oakland and Santa Cruz (California) and Ann Arbor (Michigan) in the decriminalization of certain psychedelics.

Denver passed its initiative in May, while Oakland and Santa Cruz legislators passed their resolutions in June and February, respectively. The city council of Ann Arbor, Michigan, passed its measure in September.

None of these measures decriminalizing psychedelic plants include synthetic products such as LSD or MDMA.

Voters of the’Oregon legalized medical psilocybin in last night's general election and passed another measure decriminalizing all drugs.

The Washington initiative was started by Melissa Lavasani, a city government employee who used microdoses of psilocybin to help her recover from post-partum depression.

«Everyone knows, at least in the campaign, that I was hoping for 70% [of votes in favor]. [...] We've changed the game here. We've turned this dialogue into something people can feel, touch, see and hear. We're trying to normalize mental health, we're trying to normalize psychedelics, we're trying to normalize connecting with your community. The psychedelic movement was born on the West Coast, but DC tonight [voted] and showed that psychedelics play a major role in how we can heal as a community, how we can heal as a city and how we can heal as a country.» said Melissa Lavasani, on Facebook