Oakland has become the second city in the US to decriminalize magic mushrooms and other psychedelics, with a policy that activists hope will spark a national legalization movement.
The measure, passed on Tuesday night by councilmembers in the progressive northern California city, comes one month after voters in Denver approved a similar ballot initiative to decriminalize psilocybin, which supporters say can help treat depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions.
“They are naturally occurring and have been used by humans for thousands of years,” said Carlos Plazola, the director of Decriminalize Nature Oakland, the group behind the measure. He told the Guardian he became interested in decriminalization after he had a transformative experience on mushrooms last fall: “These are not drugs. These are healing plants … We just think they should never have been made illegal to begin with.”