California voters have introduced an initiative statute that seeks to decriminalize psychedelics. If the statute passes, it would decriminalize psychedelics for personal use, medical treatment, and research.
Dr. Shirley N. Weber, California’s Secretary of State, announced that the proponents of this new initiative were authorized to begin collecting petition signatures on January 2, 2024.
What does SB519 aim to do?
The statute would decriminalize the personal possession, cultivation, and use of psychedelic plants and substances by those over the age of 18; examples of the included drugs would include psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, mescaline, and peyote.
The passing of the statute would allow medical professionals to recommend psychedelic treatments for health conditions, and allow medical researchers to study further the therapeutic and medical applications of psychedelics.
While it is currently illegal to harvest and process many of the plants that are classified as psychedelics, including the mushrooms that produce psilocybin, the proposed statute would change that. The change in state policy would allow companies to grow and manufacture psychedelics and sell them to individuals for medical purposes.
Along with creating a legal process for the harvest and processing of psychedelics, it would require these companies with more than 50 employees to hold annual employee votes on unionization.
The proposed statute also seeks to approve the resentencing, reduction, or dismissal of prior psychedelic-related convictions, Weber states.
If the bill passes, the Legislature is considering much narrower approaches.
In the last weeks the Assembly health committee has a group studying the advantages and disadvantages of the medical use of psychedelics, including “psychedelic therapy.”
“Having the data will help us legislate good policy regarding the use of psychedelics in clinical settings. These therapies have the potential to save countless lives,” Marie Weldron, California Assembly Member said.
Medical Studies
According to a Swiss study published in Psychopharmacology, some of the advantages or medical benefits of psychedelic therapy include relief from
-chronic pain
-cluster headache
-mood disorders
-substance use disorders
-psychological distress linked to life-threatening illness
-anxiety
-depression
-post-traumatic stress disorder
In 2018, a study by the Swiss University of Basel’s Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology found that people taking LSD in conjunction with psychological therapy experienced increased feelings of happiness, trust, and empathy. This results in positive social effects and altruism.
In 2019, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of esketamine for treating severe depression in people for whom other treatments didn’t work. Remaining that 36.7% of women is now reported with depression and 20.4% of men are in the United States according to Gallup.
A small study in 2009 confirms that psilocybin decreased obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms in all participants
However, while controlled psychedelic consumption may offer medical benefits, uncontrolled consumption of psychedelics can potentially cause addiction and other adverse side effects.
Potential side effects of uncontrolled psychedelic use can include moderate to severe psychosis and paranoia in the short term, as well as Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) and suicidal thoughts in the long term.
Passing SB519“Assemblymember Waldron and I are partnering together this year in the space of psychedelic therapy. Later this month or early February we will introduce a Senate bill to legalize and create the structure of psychedelic-assisted therapy in line with the governor’s veto message,” Wiener said to the committee.
The proponents of the measure include David Hodges, Tomas Garrett, Chelsea Candelaria, and Carsten Fisher. They must collect signatures of 546,651 registered voters for the measure to become eligible for the ballot. The deadline for signature verification is 131 days before the general election, which is around June 27.
Oregon and Colorado have already decriminalized psychedelic drugs with the Legalization and Regulation Statue and the Decriminalize Statue of Psychedelics bill according to the Psychedelic Alpha. The negative effects of psychedelic drugs have reportedly been rare after their legalization in both Oregon and Colorado.
“These anecdotes are quite rare, but perhaps, critics worried, they would become more commonplace,” the Reason Foundation said.
Psychedelics in California
In a social media poll posted by “The Blue and White,” 64% of the responding voters think that psychedelics should not be legalized.
“I think decriminalization may help the other factors that involve criminalization of drugs like psychedelics because a lot of people interact with them dangerously. Young people get involved with them, go to prison a lot of horrible aspects come out of the criminalization of psychedelics. I think that decriminalization and harm reduction programs may help reducing stuff like that from happening and it can move towards a more safeguard on our society if people are going to interact with, because obviously people is still interacting with psychedelic substances regardless of their legal status,” Khloey Clovin, a Bakersfield High School senior, said.
However, the rejection of SB519 in California does not guarantee that the consumption of psychedelics will not occur. Many psychedelics, including psilocybin, are already available in several tobacco and marijuana stores. Psychedelics are already for sale illegally; the passing of SB519 would, however, allow the government to more closely control and monitor how it is being distributed as well as in quality.
This is a developing story.
