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The California bill will decriminalize psychedelics and clear the way for medicinal services.

Writer's picture: Souradeep KunduSouradeep Kundu


The bill encourages the effects of medication and expunges felony records for people previously guilty of possession or use of a substance.


A senator from California has proposed bills that will decriminalize the state's psychedelics, the boldest initiative in a campaign to end the drug war in America.


Scott Wiener, the state senator who drafted the measure, hopes that California will take a step closer to decriminalizing the use and use of all drugs by following the example of areas such as Oakland, Santa Cruz, and the District of Columbia, all cities that have decriminalized psychedelics, something that Oregon passed in November.


"People are not supposed to go to prison for possessing or using drugs," Wiener told the Guardian. "It's a health issue, not a criminal issue, and I'm hoping we'll get there all the way."


This bill, introduced on Thursday, will decriminalize psilocybin, psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, ketamine, DMT, mescaline, and ibogaine, all medications that can be used for medicinal care, possession, and personal use. Although decriminalization will extend not only to medicinal possession or consumption of some sort, the bill makes a point of highlighting the medical benefits of psychedelics, a tactic common to proponents of drug policy reform.


Anthony Johnson, a former lobbyist and lead petitioner for Oregon's Measure 110, the referendum that decriminalized personal ownership of minor quantities of all illegal substances, said, "That's how it worked with cannabis." "It's definitely a way to help people who need it first and foremost, but also to educate the public about these substances on how a failed drug war policy has been and how a better approach is being taken."


For persons guilty of possession or personal use of these drugs, the bill will even expunge felony records. A task force will be formed to determine which administrative authority will supervise the clinical and medicinal use of these mental health drugs.


Due to a shortage of the drug among indigenous practitioners, Wiener did not include peyote as one of the substances, he added. Peyote is a holy herb among certain indigenous peoples, even when it is sourced from peyote, the bill would not decriminalize peyote or mescaline at the request of the indigenous group.


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