Oakland, Calif., decriminalizes 'magic mushrooms,' other natural psychedelics

The city council of Oakland, Calif., unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday that decriminalizes the use of entheogenic plants, a category that includes flora such as “magic mushrooms,” cactuses, and iboga, that can induce a psychedelic experience.

The resolution states that law enforcement should not prioritize arresting or investigating adults who use the substances, but it does not create any marketplaces or sale mechanisms for distribution. Oakland is the second U.S. city, after Denver, to decriminalize these substances. Magic mushrooms - those containing the hallucinogenic substance psilocybin - remain illegal under federal and California state laws.

The effort was started by Decriminalize Nature Oakland, or DNO, which bills itself as a campaign to educate the public about the use of entheogenic plants to “decriminalize our relationship to nature.”

Supporters of the resolution argue that these drugs have medical and spiritual benefits and historically have been used by some cultures for healing and in rituals.

Councilman Noel Gallo introduced the resolution after being approached by DNO, but he told The Washington Post that his family has had a long history of cultivating and using entheogenic plants.

“Half of my family is Native American,” he said. “I grew up with my grandmother, and those plants were visible in our backyard. We didn’t have a Walgreens in the neighborhood.” When his nephew was severely injured in the Iraq War, “some of these plants were able to help him get his life back together,” Gallo said.

Gallo said he consulted doctors, nurses and patients, as well as DNO, before putting the resolution forward. He said that the council would reevaluate the policy in a year to see if any changes needed to be made.

Supporters of the resolution cheered after its passage Tuesday evening, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

DNO’s co-founder, Nicolle Greenheart, told the Chronicle that she was “glad that our communities will now have access to the healing medicines and we can start working on healing our communities.”

There was one skeptic on the city council. Councilman Loren Taylor had expressed worry ahead of the resolution’s passage. “It is something that could be taken advantage of,” he told Marijuana Moment, a blog dedicated to policy and business coverage of cannabis, in late May. “That’s the piece for me. I want to make sure we’re thinking through all the implications.”

Taylor added an amendment to the resolution on Tuesday that said it did not authorize the manufacturing or sale of the substances, the Chronicle reported. It also clarifies that certain potential users should consult a physician before using the drugs.

Gallo’s report on the resolution, submitted to the council in May, also states that “since DNO believes entheogens should not be commodified, there will be no sales of entheogenic plants and fungi and we will work closely with local communities to share resources.”

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