Berkeley, California legislators are set to vote on a resolution Tuesday to reduce psychedelics’ enforcement. This is a local change that comes at a time when the California state legislature is also considering broader legislation legalizing the possession and facilitation substances such as psilocybin or ayahuasca.
The Berkeley City Council agenda includes the psychedelics item for this week’s meetings, with a unanimous “positive recommendation to accept” from the Health, Life Enrichment, Equity & Community Committee.
Sophie Hahn is the chairperson of this panel and sponsors the resolution. After hearing testimony, the committee voted in May to move forward with the proposal. It would have police deprioritize enforcement laws against all entheogenic drugs, except for mescaline derived from peyote.
In the resolution, it is noted that many California cities–such Oakland or Santa Cruz have already taken steps to reform psychedelics locally. Berkeley, as first reported, is poised to take a step similar.
It adds that “there are criminal justice concerns associated with investigating, arresting, and incarcerating people for personal use of entheogens/psychedelics, and it is important to balance criminal justice concerns with public health concerns when crafting just and responsible policy.”
The measure on the agenda would make it the official policy of the city for local law enforcement to “de-emphasize the use of City funds and resources to assist in the enforcement of laws imposing criminal penalties for the possession of plant- or fungus biosynthesized psychedelic drugs for personal use and for the cultivation, processing, and preparation of psychedelic-drug-containing plants and fungi for personal use.”
The proposal prohibits the gifting, distribution, sale or administration of psychedelics.
The resolution states that “the City of Berkeley declares support for a comprehensive, transparent public discussion about how to make psychedelics more accessible in a way that is safe, beneficial, ethical and equitable. It urges the California State Legislature take part in the conversation and to consider passing legislation to address the relevant issues.”
The measure being advanced is a modified version of an psychedelics proposal that was approved in the Berkeley Community Health Commission.
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The resolution does not explicitly refer to SB 58. This is a bill by Sen. Scott Wiener, (D), that has passed through the state Senate and is making its way up the Assembly committee levels.
Last month, Wiener stated that the proposal was facing a “challenging path” towards passage. Especially because it has been surprisingly referred by another Assembly committee he hadn’t had time to engage with comprehensively.
SB 58 legalizes the possession, preparation, obtaining or transfer of specified amounts of psilocybin or psilocyn as well as DMT, Ibogaine, and Mescaline.
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The article Berkeley City Council to Vote on Psychedelics Resolution This Week first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
