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Denver's Initiative 301 would decriminalize the use and possession of mushrooms containing the psychedelic compound psilocybin by making shrooms Denver's "lowest law enforcement priority". The vote is on Tuesday, May 7, alongside general elections for mayor, city auditor, city clerk and recorder, and all 13 city council seats. The initiative is supported by Decriminalize Denver, the Denver Green Party, and the Libertarian Party of Colorado. Opponents include the Centennial Institute, a conservative think tank from Colorado Christian University.
Will Denver Vote to Decriminalize Magic Mushrooms?
In 2005, Denver residents voted to become the first major U.S. city to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Two years later, they voted to decriminalize cannabis entirely. For the city's elections this spring, they're being asked if they want to do the same thing for psilocybin, the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms.
If passed, Initiative 301 would decriminalize the possession and use of a drug that is illegal in all states and at the federal level. No matter the result, it marks the first time in United States history that the legal status of psilocybin has been challenged, and it's putting Denver once again at the center of a debate on drug policy.
[...] State laws would remain unchanged, meaning state prosecutors could continue to bring psilocybin cases to court in Denver. While this type of decriminalization law may reduce drug arrests, drug policy experts consider it more of a symbolic gesture that could precede full legalization, much as cannabis laws did in the mid-2000s.
That fact hasn't been lost in Denver's debate over the issue. Opponents say decriminalization of psilocybin could eventually lead to full legalization, putting Denver—a city already known for its embrace of recreational marijuana—down the path toward becoming a drug haven.
Denver residents will also vote on Initiated Ordinance 300: Denver "Right to Survive" Initiative that would overturn an "urban camping" ban:
A "yes" vote is a vote in favor of adding "Article IX - Right to Survive in Public Spaces" to the Denver Revised Municipal Code, thereby allowing the following activities in outdoor public places without limits or penalties enforced by the city or county, law enforcement, or any other entity:
- resting;
- sheltering oneself;
- eating or exchanging food; and
- occupying one's own legally parked vehicle or a legally parked vehicle with permission of the owner.
Finally, the Denver Airport Employees Minimum Wage Increase Initiative would require private employers to pay Denver airport employees $15/hour by 2021.
At least 15% of Denver voters have taken advantage of early voting.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bob_super on Monday May 06 2019, @09:16PM (10 children)
Pot is easily grown at home, and resold to neighbors.
Shrooms might be too.
That's a lot harder market to capture if it's legal.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday May 06 2019, @09:28PM
That's true. I had not thought of that.
When I was a kid, people would grow pot in bush near where I lived. The police would go in every summer and cut the plants down, then remove them by helicopter, nicely spreading the seeds.
That particular valley is still well known as a place to go to pick your own. Not great quality from what I hear, but the price is right.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 06 2019, @09:56PM
Noobs can grow more shrooms than they can use very easily at home. Unless you are that guy who advocates taking 30-50 grams dried shrooms at a time.
With experience and better equipment you can easily grow 10 times more than what a noob can. [shroomery.org]
Professional mushroom farmers switching to psilocybin shrooms would collapse the price from pretty low to pretty much nothing. Shiitake and other gourmet mushrooms will be more expensive because you can actually eat them every day without tripping balls.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 06 2019, @11:15PM (2 children)
Beer isn't too hard to brew either, but most people just want to run by the store for it. I suspect pot will end up like that too, and mushrooms even more because I'm given to understand that the active compounds can vary much more widely with some 'shrooms than they do with pot. Around here, there's *amanita muscaria* that grows wild, and that one is said to have quite a wide range of active ingredient depending on when and where it's picked. Access to such things grown in a controlled environment would be much better for those who don't want to roll the dice on a trip that's too intense.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 07 2019, @03:21AM
Almost all of the shrooms that people grow are slight variations of Psilocybe cubensis. These have about 0.6% psilocybin and psilocin by mass. [erowid.org] The dried shrooms can be ground into a powder to normalize the psilocybin levels. The powder can be added to gel capsules to make it easy to consume and measure. Most users are going to start off using a small dose and increase as needed.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Tuesday May 07 2019, @04:31AM
Yea, I don't have a green thumb. Nada, zilch. One might even say the opposite if there's such a thing. I can't even rear cacti in a pot, they just die off... and those are supposed to be minimal maintenance.
Gimme the drone delivery service please!
(Score: 2) by TrentDavey on Tuesday May 07 2019, @02:56PM (4 children)
In Canada it is not illegal to sell cannabis seeds nor is it illegal to sell mushroom mycellium since each of these do not contain any psychoactive chemicals. You can mail-order a nice little kit with everything you need to grow a few mushrooms (and there are bigger kits). You need to keep them at the right temperature and mist them with water everyday and keep every step clean/sterile since .. well, you are encouraging the perfect conditions for fungus growth. One company here has been in business since the last millennium.
This is a good step forward. I recommend reading Michael Pollan's "How to Change Your Mind" for a history of psychotherapy, its current research stage and 3 informative trip descriptions of his.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Tuesday May 07 2019, @04:26PM (3 children)
Do you have links to vendors of either sort? I'll be driving through Canada soon.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 07 2019, @04:56PM
be careful. if you do shrooms you may quit working for Microsoft. :)
(Score: 2) by TrentDavey on Tuesday May 07 2019, @05:23PM (1 child)
I got mine here: http://www.magicmushroomkit.ca/ [magicmushroomkit.ca]
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Tuesday May 07 2019, @07:00PM
It's just for the bunker. Such things will be valuable if the balloon goes up.