In the beginning of the week, the Arcata City Council voted unanimously for a proposal seeking to effectively decriminalize use and possession of psilocybin mushrooms and other entheogenic plants like peyote and ayahuasca.
Entheogenic plants are plants which contain psychoactive substances which make altercations in mood, perception, cognition, consciousness or behavioral change with an aim of engendering spiritual development.
This move was led by Danielle Daniel, the head organizer of Decriminalize Nature Humboldt, who believes by legalizing psychedelics the community will become a better place to live due to the healing properties of psychedelics compounds like psilocybin.
“With decriminalization, Arcata residents will be able to ingest, gift, gather, grow, and share entheogens without fear of arrest. By destigmatizing entheogens, the community will have more openness to conversing about the healing potential of psychoactive plants and fungi,” said Daniel.
The Humboldt County city goes down on record as the third city in California to decriminalize psychedelics. The other two cities include; Santa Cruz and Oakland.
The Senator of California Scott Wiener, has been on the fore front seeking to legalize psychedelics across the state. Earlier in the year, Wiener introduced a bill which would legalize possession and use of psychedelics, however, several weeks ago, the Democratic Senator pulled the bill out to seek more public participation on the matter and to give fellow regulators enough time to educate themselves on matters psychedelics before he re-introduces it on the floor of the house next year.
