Activists in California announced Wednesday that they failed to gather enough signatures to qualify a measure to legalize psilocybin mushrooms on the state’s November ballot, though they haven’t given up trying the future election cycle.
California was decriminalized It was first approved by the state prosecutor’s office to begin collecting signatures in September, giving them 180 days to collect 62,312 valid signatures from registered voters. On an all-volunteer basis, the group collected about 46 percent of those signatures, but that was a pre-validation, which means it’s likely that a large portion will be deemed invalid for one reason or another.
“We were doing really well gathering information and then in mid-December almost every one of our core volunteers got COVID, and most of the events that were scheduled were either closed, postponed or had low turnout,” said Ryan Munnivar, campaign manager. Extremely”
“This half-open and half-closed community we’ve been living in has definitely hampered the signature collection process, so we decided to take a few months off to compensate and then focus on raising money for a paid signature campaign,” For the Future effort added.
Monívar laid out some next steps for the campaign, saying they will raise funds in the coming months to determine if it can begin collecting signatures for a new reform initiative in either June or October 2023 for a November 2024 vote.
Under the proposal, titled The California Psilocybin Initiative, the “personal, medical, therapeutic, religious, spiritual, and dietary use of the psilocybin mushroom” would have been legal for adults 21 and older. Furthermore, the initiative would have allowed the drug to be grown, retailed, socialized, and consumed on-site.
while the Measure It would have legalized sales of psilocybin under state law, and the attorney general’s title and summary used the word “decriminalization,” a term that some advocates find more acceptable to people who may not necessarily be inclined to support a commercial model of the drug.
“For individuals 21 years of age or older, the cultivation, manufacture, processing, distribution, transportation, possession, storage, consumption and retail sale of psilocybin mushrooms and their hallucinogenic chemicals, edible products and extracts derived from psilocybin mushrooms, are decriminalized.” Summary He said.
Monívar previously told Marijuana Moment that the campaign has a team of 2,800 people who have volunteered to help collect signatures for this year’s vote. And these collectors have been working in cities across California as recently as this month.
“Keep in mind that between the end of the plague (hopefully), the war between Russia and Ukraine, and the start of the recession, leading up to the upcoming presidential campaign, inflation is guaranteed to keep rising, the longer we wait,” the newsletter says. Appropriate, we won’t be pulling the trigger in a paid campaign.”
The campaign will host a recalibration strategy meeting on June 2nd.
“The world is surely going to get even crazier before it gets better, which is why people now more than ever need access to magic mushrooms and all the other cannabinoids out there to beat them,” Munnifar He said. “For those of you working to end the drug war, whether it’s one substance at a time or all at once, continuing the good fight, it’s worth it.”
If the measure is approved in November 2022, there will be no restrictions on personal possession – a policy that has sparked controversy in the state legislature about Separate legislation to legalize possession of a wide range of narcotic drugs That passed the Senate last year but was later suspended after two committees in the Assembly had to get more support.
California Senator Scott Weiner (D), the sponsor of this bill, told Marijuana Moment in January that he feels there is a “50/50” chance that his bill will be to legalize possession of LSD. They will be arriving at the governor’s office this session.
Try to decriminalize California Get a similar psilocybin scale in the November 2020 pollBut they faced similar complications in signature collection due to the coronavirus pandemic and eventually abandoned the effort.
Meanwhile, doping reform continues to advance through ballot campaigns and in state legislatures across the country.
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Colorado activists recently chose one of four drug reform ballot initiatives they drafted and submitted to the November ballot, choosing Proceed with a procedure to legalize psilocybinEstablishing licensed “healing centers” where people can use the drug for therapeutic purposes and providing a pathway to closing records for past convictions. competition campaign I filed a different drug legalization lawsuit last month.
Michigan activists Introduce a statewide polling initiative Last month it would legalize the possession, development and sharing of narcotic drugs and create a system for their therapeutic and spiritual use.
The Maryland House of Delegates Committee on Tuesday held a hearing on a bill to create a state fund Can be used to provide access to narcotics Such as psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
A Connecticut legislature on Monday debated a bill that would put the state on duty to provide some patients With the possibility of receiving treatment with the help of anesthetic With substances such as MDMA and psilocybin. Former military officials, advocates and scholars have testified in favor of the proposal. That state’s governor, Democrat Ned Lamont, signed a bill last year that includes language requiring the state to do so Conducting a study on the therapeutic potential From the fungus psilocybin. a work group Since then met to investigate the case.
Last week, the Washington state legislature sent a budget bill to the governor’s office that includes a proposal to Directing $200,000 in funding to support a new working group To study the possibility of legalizing psilocybin services in the state, including the idea of using existing marijuana regulatory systems to track narcotic mushrooms.
Last week, the Hawaii Senate approved a bill to create a state working group Study of the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin mushrooms and a “long-term” plan to ensure that the drug is available for medical use for adults 21 and over.
Also last week, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed this week’s bill to Decriminalization of low-level psilocybin possession and promoting research into the therapeutic potential of the drug.
A bipartisan coalition of Georgia deputies introduced a resolution recently Calls for the formation of a study committee in the House of Representatives To investigate the therapeutic potential of drugs such as psilocybin and to make recommendations for repairs.
Rhode Island legislators introduced A pair of drug decriminalization bills this month— including one focused on psilocybin and buprenorphine that would allow doctors to prescribe psychedelic mushrooms.
Also this month, a Missouri Republican introduced a bill that would Legalization of a wide range of narcotic drugs for therapeutic use In dedicated care facilities with decriminalization of low-level tenure in general.
Last month , Utah legislators sent a bill to the governor That would establish a working group to study and make recommendations on Therapeutic potential of narcotic drugs and possible regulations for their legitimate use.
A committee of the Oregon Senate also recently introduced a bill to secure property rights Incorporated into the state’s historic psilocybin therapy program It is actively implemented after voter approval in 2020.
A bill to decriminalize a wide variety of hallucinogens in Virginia was discussed by a House of Delegates committee in January, Only to be postponed until 2023. Separate Senate motion to decriminalize psilocybin alone He was later defeated by the Main Committee.
Washington state legislators It also introduced legislation in January It would legalize what the bill calls “assisted psilocybin trials” for adults 21 and older.
New Hampshire lawmakers introduced measures to Decriminalization of psilocybin and all drugs.
Legislation was As enacted by the Texas State Legislature Last year the state required a study of the medical risks and benefits of psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine for veterans in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine and an Army-focused medical center.
A pair of Michigan senators also introduced a bill in September to Legalization of tenure, agriculture and handover A group of narcotic drugs derived from plants and fungi such as psilocybin and mescaline.
At the congressional level, lawmakers from both parties sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) last month urging the agency to Allow terminally ill patients to use psilocybin As investigative therapy without fear of federal prosecution.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia / Factor.
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