Colorado (Denver) Can Vote to Legalize Psilocybin aka Magic Mushrooms Tuesday

Tomorrow, Denver, Colorado has the opportunity to legalize the recreational use of Psilocybin aka Magic Mushrooms. A yes vote on ordinance 301, Psilocybin Mushroom Initiative is a vote in favor of decriminalizing the possession of mushrooms containing the psychedelic compound psilocybin. Technically, this would make possession the lowest priority for law enforcement since our federal government still considers many helpful mind altering substances, like cannabis Schedule 1 drugs.

This would be a huge step in the right direction for human rights and the ability to research a drug that has already shown itself to be a potential cure for major depression. Despite massive hurdles that scientist must leap through to study this drug, they have still found Psilocybin to be a potential life saving cure. Drugs like cannabis and psilocybin are incorrectly labeled as Schedule 1 drugs. I say incorrectly because one of the definitions of Schedule 1 drugs is that they have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” These particular drugs have been labeled in this way, in my honest opinion, to control society and mostly to oppress minority groups who have historically cultivated and used these products thus increasing incarceration of non-white people. The man is literally trying to keep you down, as they used to say in the 60s. They were correct. It’s time we changed that.

Magic mushrooms have proven to be non-addictive and they send the fewest people to the emergency room of any drug on the market. Multiple studies have shown that mushrooms can be very helpful for depression with as few as a single dose helping to relieve major depressive disorder. That is a HUGE deal. Most anti-depression medications take weeks or months to have an effect IF they have any affect at all. Studies have also shown that taking mushrooms under the care of a doctor (or therapist) has significantly improved quality of life and reduced anxiety for people with end of life cancer. These studies have been so conclusive that the FDA finally approved some clinical trials. This is good news in a sense but if you dig deeper you realize that only one company,  COMPASS Pathways, has the rights to do these studies and will also be the singular company allowed to patent and sell the drug if studies prove to be beneficial. It’s great for that one company and whoever owns it, but it would be MUCH better for the rest of us if the door was opened for more scientists to study the drug and for more people to be able to access the drug sooner and without paying what will likely be thousands of dollars for relief. We deserve happiness. We deserve freedom in exploration of science. We humans deserve the rights to grow and to use the plants we decide are beneficial to us based on scientific evidence and not politics.

Don’t we want to be a society that helps our people? It’s National Mental Health Awareness month and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than by opening the doors to more research on psilocybin thus giving more humans the freedom to chose a new path towards happiness.

If you are in Denver, Colorado please vote YES on Ordinance 301. I hope to see this type of initiative on other ballots in other states soon.

*Mushroom art by me

*Edit at 8:42 : JUST DENVER IS ABLE TO VOTE ON THIS. I had stated all of Colorado.