As cannabis becomes widely decriminalised in the U.S. and around the world, another drug-legalisation movement in the U.S. is picking up steam. On Tuesday, the city council of Santa Cruz, California voted to decriminalise the use of psychedelic mushrooms within its borders. It’s now the third city in the U.S. to have done so.
The decision won’t exactly make magic mushrooms legal in Santa Cruz. The active ingredients found in them, psilocybin and psilocin, are still considered Schedule 1 drugs by the U.S. government, meaning they have no legally sanctioned use (much like cannabis). But the resolution unanimously passed by the council Tuesday night declares that the “investigation and arrest of individuals involved with the adult possession, use, or cultivation of psychoactive plants and fungi” will be considered the lowest priority for the city’s police, according to CBS affiliate KPIX 5.
The resolution was proposed for a vote last November, sponsored by the city’s then-vice mayor Justin Cummings; Cummings went on to be appointed for a year-long term as mayor in December.
Santa Cruz now joins Oakland, California and Denver, Colorado as the only cities where psychedelic mushrooms have been decriminalised. But legalisation activists are already pushing for more victories. On Wednesday, the advocacy group Decriminalise Nature told news outlet Marijuana Moment that it has started work on a project to have mushrooms fully legalised and able to be sold in Oakland. The group hopes to have a legislative measure up for a vote this September, which will include a framework for how and where mushrooms can be sold.
Much like with cannabis, another drug that’s been decriminalised and legalised in many places, advocates argue that these mushrooms can be therapeutic. Some research has found that small doses of psilocybin can amplify the effects of mental health interventions for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. At least two psilocybin-based treatments are winding their way through the Food and Drug Administration’s process for drug approval, though clinical trials for them are still ongoing.
Nationally, though, the legalisation movement for mushrooms still faces an uphill climb. While several Democratic presidential candidates have pledged to fully legalise cannabis if elected, including Bernie Sanders, long-shot candidate Andrew Yang is the only one as of now to have voiced support for psilocybin legalisation.