Denver, Oakland, Oregon, Washington, D.C. recently decriminalized psychedelics. The state of California could be next. On Thursday, State Sen. Scott Wiener introduced a bill to decriminalize psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, ketamine, DMT, and mescaline.
From NBC News:
[Wiener] said that a ballot measure might be more successful if lawmakers ultimately vote against his bill, which he hopes will receive a committee hearing in the state Senate sometime in March or April, according to his office.
"In many ways, the voters are ahead of the elected officials when it comes to criminal justice reform," he said. "This is the first time this idea has been in the Legislature. Many of my colleagues won't be familiar with the issue."
A grassroots initiative is already gaining traction in California at the same time lawmakers are considering the decriminalization bill. Decriminalize California has set a goal of collecting 623,212 valid signatures to qualify the California Psilocybin Decriminalization Initiative for the November 2022 ballot.
That measure would allow adults to cultivate, possess, distribute, transport, and consume magic mushrooms in California.
