San Francisco One Step Closer to Decriminalizing Plant-Based Psychedelics

SUMMER OF LOVE THERAPY CONTINUES –

Sept. 10, 2022 – The measure, resolution #220896, concerns entheogenic plants, another term for psychoactive plants, or plants that can induce changes in perception and mood. It calls for San Francisco police to give investigation and arrests related to use of such substances “the lowest priority.”

This category of drug includes psilocybin, or so-called “magic” mushrooms, and peyote, which are controlled as what’s known as “Schedule 1” substances by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. (Ayahuasca isn’t technically in this category, but its active component, DMT, is.)

Those drugs are defined by the DEA as having no accepted medicinal use, and are at the top of the list for enforcement.

So far, it’s not clear what impact the motion will actually have on the policing of psychedelics in San Francisco. Some psychedelic practices, like the usage of ayahuasca within certain religious contexts, are already protected in the US under the principle of religious freedom, according to the resolution.