{"id":8773,"date":"2019-05-08T23:05:22","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T23:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=3452738"},"modified":"2019-05-08T23:05:22","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T23:05:22","slug":"denver-first-in-u-s-to-decriminalize-psychedelic-mushrooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/denver-first-in-u-s-to-decriminalize-psychedelic-mushrooms\/","title":{"rendered":"Denver first in U.S. to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/denver-first-in-u-s-to-decriminalize-psychedelic-mushrooms\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2019\/05\/08\/denver-psychedelic-magic-mushroom\/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dp-news-marijuana+%28Denver+Post%3A+News%3A+Marijuana%29&amp;utm_content=Google+UK#comments-anchor\"><span class=\"spot-im-replies-count\" data-post-id=\"3452738\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3353434\" class=\"wp-caption alignright size-article_inline_half\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/denver-first-in-u-s-to-decriminalize-psychedelic-mushrooms.jpg\" alt=\"Magic mushrooms are seen at the ...\" width=\"2312\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/denver-first-in-u-s-to-decriminalize-psychedelic-mushrooms.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/denver-first-in-u-s-to-decriminalize-psychedelic-mushrooms.jpg 620w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/AP_070802036452.jpg?fit=310%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 310w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p>Peter Dejong, The Associated Press<\/p>\n<p>Psychedelic mushrooms are seen at the Procare farm in Hazerswoude, central Netherlands, in this 2007 file photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Denver is poised to become the first city in the nation to effectively decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms.<\/p>\n<p>After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2019\/05\/07\/psychedelic-magic-mushrooms-denver-election\/\">closing an early vote deficit Tuesday night<\/a> and early Wednesday, final unofficial results <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denvergov.org\/electionresults#\/results\/20190507\">posted<\/a> late in the afternoon showed a reversal of fortune \u2014 with Initiative 301 set to pass narrowly with 50.6 percent of the vote. The total stands at 89,320 votes in favor and 87,341 against, a margin of 1,979.<\/p>\n<p>The Denver Elections Division will continue accepting military and overseas ballots, but typically those numbers are small. Results will be certified May 16.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been one hell of a 21 and a half hours,\u201d Initiative 301 campaign manager Kevin Matthews said. \u201cIf these results hold, this is an example of the absurd comedy of the great metaphor. Against all odds, we prevailed. This is what happens when a small team of dedicated and passionate people unite under a single idea to create change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2019\/05\/08\/find-out-who-your-new-denver-city-council-member-is-or-if-you-have-to-vote-again\/\">Find out who your new Denver City Council member is \u2014 or if you have to vote again<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Denver\u2019s vote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/crime-law\/2019\/05\/08\/denver-voters-apparently-reject-decriminalization-magic-mushrooms\/?utm_term=.16a348698b58\">has attracted national attention<\/a>. While efforts are afoot to get psilocybin-related measures on the ballot in Oregon and California in 2020, Denver hosted the first-ever U.S. popular vote on the matter, according to organizers. An earlier effort in California last year failed to qualify for the ballot.<\/p>\n<p>Though Initiative 301 attracted no organized opposition, critics of Colorado\u2019s legalization of marijuana lamented the prospect of Denver blazing yet another trail they see as misguided and potentially harmful.<\/p>\n<p>The measure essentially tells police to look the other way on adult psilocybin use.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll see what the final numbers are, but we\u2019re a little stunned to see a 7,000-vote flip overnight on that,\u201d said Jeff Hunt, director of the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University, who <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jeffhunt\/status\/1126259864978612225\">initially questioned on Twitter<\/a> whether vote-tampering was involved. \u201cWe\u2019ll continue to fight the growing drug culture. Denver\u2019s becoming the illicit drug capital of the world. The larger issue here is not good for our city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cMarijuana has brought more problems than it\u2019s solved to our city and our state, and if we continue to go down this track, we\u2019re going to continue to see Colorado get in worse and worse shape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Supporters extolled emerging research showing potential health benefits with psychedelic mushrooms. The measure likely was put over the top by younger voters, who tend to cast their ballots closer to or on Election Day, even though all registered voters receive their ballots in the mail about three weeks earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Last fall, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration <a href=\"https:\/\/newatlas.com\/psilocybin-magic-mushrooms-depression-fda-breakthrough-therapy\/56928\/\">granted psilocybin \u201cbreakthrough therapy\u201d designation<\/a> for its potential to help with treatment-resistant depression, a status that <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2018\/10\/25\/fda-recognizes-psilocybin-as-breakthroug\/\">speeds up the development and review process<\/a> for a medicine containing the substance.<\/p>\n<h3>What Initiative 301 tells police to do<\/h3>\n<p>As written, I-301 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2019\/02\/19\/psychedelic-mushrooms-denver\/\">directs police via ordinance<\/a> to treat enforcement of laws against possession of psilocybin mushrooms as their lowest priority.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3357787\" class=\"wp-caption alignright size-article_inline_half\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/denver-first-in-u-s-to-decriminalize-psychedelic-mushrooms-1.jpg\" alt=\"Kevin Matthews is leading the decriminalization ...\" width=\"8014\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/denver-first-in-u-s-to-decriminalize-psychedelic-mushrooms-1.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/denver-first-in-u-s-to-decriminalize-psychedelic-mushrooms-1.jpg 620w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/magicmushrooms-021319-cha-050.jpg?fit=310%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 310w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p>Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Matthews led the decriminalization campaign for magic mushrooms in Denver. He was photographed on Feb. 12, 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s similar to decriminalization measures approved by Denver voters for marijuana years before Colorado\u2019s Amendment 64 won statewide approval.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur victory here is a clear signal to the rest of the country that we\u2019re ready for a broader conversation around psilocybin and its potential benefits,\u201d said Matthews, a 33-year-old stay-at-home dad.<\/p>\n<p>Psychedelic mushrooms still would remain illegal to buy, sell or possess, with the latter crime a felony that carries a potential punishment of up to a year in prison and a fine. But Initiative 301 backers hope to lower the risk users face of getting caught with mushrooms.<\/p>\n<p>Past marijuana efforts are instructive, though. Denver voters signed off on decriminalization measures in 2005 and 2007, but that didn\u2019t stop police from enforcing the law \u2014 though drug law-liberalization advocates say the public discussion prompted by the ballot initiatives helped pave the way for statewide legalization in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll say this: We\u2019re looking forward to creating a positive relationship with city officials,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cWe have the resources ready to make sure the Justice Department, the (district attorney\u2019s) office and the Denver Police Department have the education they need to implement this in a way that\u2019s fair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Initiative 301 requires the city to create a panel to monitor the effects and implementation of the ordinance.<\/p>\n<h3>Tide turned Wednesday<\/h3>\n<p>Some national media outlets as well as the Centennial Institute wrongly called I-301 a bust late Tuesday, based on the early results.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>But the gap tightened throughout the night. By 1 a.m. Wednesday, when Denver Elections put out its last release before pausing counting for the night, the measure still was losing by 3.4 percentage points.<\/p>\n<p>It overcame that margin in the next \u2014 and final \u2014 round of results shortly after 4 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Denver is poised to become the first city in the nation to effectively decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms after final ballot-counting flipped Initiative 301&#8217;s margin in favor of narrow passage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45,6811,6857,8144,6847,784,8145,6813,6848,77,9,8146,5019,5890,441,8147,8148,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[2628,6816,6859,8149,6850,3357,8150,6818,6851,2655,8151,5022,41,3015,8152,8153],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8773"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}