Detroit could be the next city to make a move when it comes to decriminalizing psychedelics and moving forward into the future.
Detroit voters overwhelmingly approved Proposal E on Tuesday, to decriminalize naturally occurring psychedelic drugs including mescaline, ayahuasca, psilocybin and dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Proposal E, which was approved by 61 percent of the city’s voters, makes the personal possession and therapeutic use of entheogenic plants and fungi such as psilocybin mushrooms the city’s lowest law enforcement priority.
With the adoption of the ballot measure, Detroit becomes the latest municipality to approve psychedelics decriminalization measures, with Washington, D.C., Denver and Oakland, California and other cities nationwide passing similar legislation through the ballot box or city council action. Other cities in Michigan including Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids have also advanced similar measures.
“We are seeing a steady trend underway of local municipalities voting to decriminalize the therapeutic use of entheogenic plants, Dr. John Huber, CEO of TripSitter Clinic, a ketamine telemedicine clinic that has recently become available in Michigan, told High Times in an email.
Proposal E qualified for Detroit’s November ballot after a signature-gathering campaign spearheaded by the group Decriminalize Nature Michigan. Moudou Baqui, a spokesperson for Decriminalize Nature in Detroit, said that the measure does not apply to commercial psychedelic activity, which would have necessitated detailed regulatory provisions.
“If we move to decriminalize, we eliminate a whole slew of potential issues, whether it’s licensing, whether it’s so-called code enforcement, whether it’s so-called compliance issues,” Baqui told Detroit public radio.
Broader Psychedelic Decriminalization Efforts Also Underway in Detroit
Activists and lawmakers are pushing to reform policy on psychedelic drugs and entheogenic plants at the state level, as well. In last year’s November election, voters made Oregon the first state in the nation to decriminalize psilocybin for therapeutic use with the passage of Measure 109.
And in September, Michigan Democratic state Senator Jeff Irwin introduced a bill to decriminalize psychedelic drugs including psilocybin and mescaline in the state, although commercial production and sales would still be illegal. Under the legislation, Senate Bill 631, possession and use of psychedelic drugs produced by entheogenic plants and fungi including psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine, mescaline and psilocybin would be “exempt from criminal prosecution in certain circumstances.”
“These substances have medicinal value, they have religious significance and they have a very low propensity for abuse,” Irwin told the Michigan Advance after he introduced the bill. “And so, that’s why I’m proposing to decriminalize the substance because it really makes no sense to spend any time or money arresting people and turning their…
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