While criminal penalties for the use and possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms apply in America, Denver could change that. Namely decriminalizing magic mushrooms. Denver will vote on this in city council.
The ordinance is intended to relieve as far as possible criminal penalties imposed by the City of Denver for possession and personal use of psilocybin, often referred to as magic mushrooms. A range of mushroom species contain psilocybin which has psychoactive or hallucinogenic properties. In fact, people sometimes see the strangest things under the influence of the 'trip mushroom'.
Schedule 1
The United States Department of Justice is currently evaluating psilocybin as a Schedule I regulated substance, which means that official federal policy states that the fungi have no medicinal properties. So while it doesn't legalize the mushrooms, the ordinance would prohibit the city from spending funds to impose criminal sanctions on those in possession of the drug.
Medical use
The mushrooms have long been popular for recreational use. But a growing body of medical research shows that psilocybin can also treat conditions such as anxiety and depression, where drugs currently on the market cannot, for example, a 2017 study published in the journal Nature found that 47% of patients who had treatment-resistant depression showed positive responses five weeks after receiving psilocybin treatment.
And in 2018, researchers at Johns Hopkins University called for psilocybin to be removed from the Schedule I list. Denver is the first city to try to do this. On its website, Decriminalize Denver says, "People have used these mushrooms for thousands of years for healing, rites of passage, spiritual insight, community enhancement, and awareness."
Every advantage has its disadvantage
The group also argues that an arrest is too much for something with such low and manageable risk for most people, in proportion to its potential benefits. The initiative has received recommendations from the Denver Green Party and the Libertarian Party of Colorado.
In January, Decriminalize Denver announced that it was collecting almost 9.500 signatures and doing paperwork at the Denver Elections Division to get the initiative on the ballot.
Jeff Hunt, vice president of government policy at Colorado Christian University, told KMGH partner Jeffinn that he was opposed to the city's de-criminalizing magic mushrooms. He said the regulation would discourage tourists from coming to the city.
"Denver is fast becoming the illegal drug capital of the world," said Hunt. "The truth is, we have no idea what the long-term health effects of these drugs will be on the people of Colorado." If passed, the initiative will also include a requirement for the city to have a "policy review panel" to assess and report on the effects of the regulation.
The voting initiative would build on a rolling tradition in the Denver drug regulations. In 2005, the city became the first major city in the US to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, according to the Marijuana policy project.
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