PRESS RELEASE: Oakland City Council Makes Psychedelic Plants and Mushrooms Lowest Priority for Law Enforcement
MAPS Releases Statement on the Regulation and Decriminalization of Psychedelic Substances
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Brad Burge, Director of Strategic Communications, MAPS
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OAKLAND, CALIF. — Yesterday, the Oakland City Council voted unanimously to stop city funds from being used to enforce laws criminalizing people for the use or possession of ayahuasca, iboga, and other psychedelic mushrooms and cacti. These plants and fungi have a long history of ceremonial use in indigenous traditions around the globe, though the active psychedelic compounds in them—including psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine, and mescaline—are still federally scheduled substances and illegal under federal law. Oakland is the first U.S. city to pass a resolution effectively decriminalizing psychedelic plants and fungi, following Denver’s vote last month to make psilocybin mushrooms the lowest law enforcement priority.
• Statement: Considerations for the Regulation and Decriminalization of Psychedelic Substances
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