With that in mind, Michigan is likely a year or more away from approving decriminalization laws for psychedelics. READ MORE: Why Pressure to Decriminalize Psychedelics Grows in Michigan While psychedelics are already considered a low priority for the Grand Rapids Police Department, there is no official resolution to support this action. Reppart doesn`t expect it either. So far, three Michigan cities have successfully decriminalized natural psychedelics. The only exception is the City of Ann Arbor, which decided on September 21, 2021 to decriminalize all natural psychedelics. There`s growing evidence of the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics happening every day, so we don`t think these substances will remain so tightly controlled anytime soon. Now that Detroit has joined the list of cities that have taken action against entheogenic plants and fungi, I hope the state legislature will quickly pass the legislation we have to decriminalize these natural psychedelics,” Hollier said. For example, marijuana has been legalized in many U.S. states, meaning it can be sold in retail stores. If marijuana were decriminalized, it would mean that people caught in possession of marijuana would not face criminal charges, but could still be fined. In addition, decriminalized substances cannot be sold in local stores. Unlike the psychedelics mentioned above, ketamine is a Schedule II controlled substance.
This means that the law considers it slightly less dangerous and already allows certain medical uses. The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan is the latest city to decriminalize the use of natural psychedelics — including magic mushrooms, peyote, San Pedro, ayahuasca, iboga, and more. Proponents have pointed to research into the healing benefits of psychedelics, including for addiction and mental health treatment. The fight to decriminalize these plants is often compared to Michigan`s successful attempt to legalize marijuana. Detroit`s proposal comes as many states and cities have decriminalized or legalized the medical or recreational use of marijuana or cannabis and are now beginning to do the same with plants or entheogenic fungi. Denver was the first city to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms in 2019. Since then, Oregon, Rhode Island, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, as well as eight other U.S. cities, have decriminalized entheogenic plants and fungi in one way or another. Detroit has joined a growing number of cities and states that have decriminalized entheogenic plants and mushrooms, colloquially known as “magic mushrooms” and psychedelics.
This month, the Michigan Board of Canvassers approved a voting initiative calling on Michiganns to decriminalize certain psychedelic plants and mushrooms. Titled “Michigan Decriminalization of Psilocybin Mushrooms and Other Plants and Fungi Initiative” (the “Initiative”), the proposal seeks to include Michigan in the ranks of states that have opened their laws to allow the use of natural psychedelics, sometimes called entheogens, and also proposes interesting changes to the state`s drug laws. which are not necessarily limited to psychedelics and mushrooms. The full text of the initiative can be found here. In efforts to decriminalize both marijuana and psychedelics, critics have shared fears that fewer sentences will lead to more drug use and possibly more crime. Read more: Washtenaw prosecutor won`t charge people with marijuana, mushrooms and other psychedelics The initiative does not specify how businesses would operate or hospitals would consider them. This is a symptom of a larger problem with the initiative, namely that the proposed new legal wording is relatively short and therefore does not provide the level of clarity or guidance that potential participants can expect. Compare the initiative`s few pages to the Oregon Psylocibin Services Act, which spans more than 70 pages and provides detailed instructions for creating a regulatory framework within the Oregon Department of Health.
Note, however, that Michigan law requires that the entire text of an initiative be included in a petition. It`s also worth noting that two Michigan state senators co-sponsored a bill in September 2021 that, if it advanced through the legislature, would offer a different path to a legalized entheogen industry. Legal text SB 0631 can be found here. Overall, the initiative is a first step toward establishing the legal use of certain psychedelics in Michigan. As more studies show that psychedelics can offer dramatic mental health benefits, especially against major depression and PTSD, the initiative would give Michiganrs access to an old yet cutting-edge addition to the mental health toolbox. To vote in November 2022, supporters of the initiative must vote by 1. June 2022 Submit 340,047 valid signatures. Decriminalize Nature is a nonprofit organization that began in 2019 in Oakland, California, and has now spread to more than 50 cities across the United States.