Continuing its reputation of being one of the most progressive cities in the United States of America, Denver, Colorado, has recently voted to decriminalize magic psychedelic mushrooms.
According to reports out of Colorado, Denver residents narrowly voted to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms, with a “slim majority” of 50.56% voting in favor of Ordinance 301.
Ordinance 301, which was also referred to as the “Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Initiative”, seeks to “deprioritize, to the greatest extent possible” criminal penalties imposed by the City of Denver “for the personal use and personal possession of psilocybin mushrooms.”
National Public Radio clarifies that while the vote does not legalize the use and sale of psychedelic mushrooms, it bars the city of Denver from prosecuting or arresting any adults aged 21 or older who are in possession of them.
Kevin Matthews, the director of the Denver campaign to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, said in a statement that he considers this decision to be a victory.
“Our victory today is a clear signal to the rest of the country that Americans are ready for a conversation around psilocybin,” Matthews said.
However, despite the historic vote in Denver, psychedelic mushrooms are still considered a Schedule 1 drug under United States federal law that has “no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”
While psychedelic mushrooms have been used recreationally for decades, recent studies from esteemed universities such as Johns Hopkins have called for removing psilocybin from the list of Schedule I substances.
The results of Denver’s approval of the Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Initiative will officially come into effect on Thursday, May 16.
That is all the information that is available at this time. This article will be updated with new and relevant information should it become available at any time. If there is anything that we missed, please feel free to send an email to editor@teamcoed.com and we will respond as soon as possible.