The council cites the medicinal properties of these psychedelic substances as one of the reasons for the resolution.
SEATTLE The Seattle City Council voted unanimously Monday in favor of a resolution in support of decriminalizing the use of psychedelic drugs, like mushrooms containing psilocybin.
The resolution was sponsored by Councilmember Andrew Lewis who called the resolution a way for [the council] to go on the record in support of policy goals that make the enforcement of current laws regarding psychedelics (or entheogens) the lowest possible priority.
The resolution is limited to natural substances, notably psilocybin and ayahuasca, and doesnt include any manufactured psychedelic drugs like LSD or peyote, which was not included due to disagreements on the substance and the need for further information.
Obviously, this is part of a broader policy conversation nationally, and following on the heels of similar resolutions that have been passed in cities like Denver, Colorado; Washington, D.C.; Oakland, California, among other jurisdictions, Lewis said Monday.
Among the reasons for the resolution, legislation cites scientific and clinical studies that have shown the medicinal properties of psychedelics for those experiencing depression, post-traumatic stress, grief and other physical and mental ailments.
Additionally, the legislation says entheogens are sacred to many cultures and spiritual practices and have been for centuries, but the current Seattle Police Department (SPD) policy does not protect those participating in these cultural activities from being arrested.
These non-addictive natural substances have real potential in clinical and therapeutic settings to make a really significant difference in peoples lives, Lewis said Monday.
Councilmember Kshama Sawant, while supporting the resolution, expressed disfavor for a resolution in place of a legally binding ordinance.
"I am a little confused by this resolution because it is a resolution and not an ordinance, and why this resolution is being passed when there is an ordinance from my office, and it has been available for months," Sawant said during the council meeting.
According to Councilmember and Public Safety Committee Chair Lisa Herbold, whom Sawant blamed for stalling her office's ordinance to legalize psychedelics, the ordinance was held until the council could hear recommendations from the Overdose Emergency Innovative Recovery Task Force.
When the task force delivered its recommendation, Herbold said it suggested cities without independent ordinances specifically criminalizing psychedelics should "direct their law enforcement agencies, local prosecutors and municipal courts to deprioritize enforcement and should publicly communicate this as municipal policy."
Additionally, Herbold said the council is anticipating state action on the decriminalization of psychedelics in the next legislative session in response to a decision by the Washington Supreme Court to strike the law criminalizing possession of controlled substances as unconstitutional.
While the resolution does not make these psychedelic substances legal, it does request that SPD formally codify and adopt policies that protect those who cultivate psychedelics for use in religious, spiritual, healing, or personal growth practices and those who share entheogens with others, without financial or other consideration, for their mutual use in such practices.
SPDs current enforcement practice, according to the legislation, is to neither detain nor arrest those who are solely in possession of controlled substances.
The resolution is also asking the Office of Intergovernmental Relations to add support of decriminalizing entheogens to the 2022 state legislative agenda.
Originally posted here:
Seattle City Council wants to decriminalize 'magic ...
- Entheogens - Salvia Forum | Psychoactive Plants [Last Updated On: June 10th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 10th, 2016]
- Entheogens - Salvia Forum | Psychoactive Plants [Last Updated On: June 12th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 12th, 2016]
- Entheogens & Existential Intelligence: The Use of Plant ... [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2016]
- Entheogens & Existential Intelligence: The Use of Plant ... [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2016]
- Entheogens including Salvia, LSD, Peyote, and Mushrooms ... [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2016]
- Entheogen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2016]
- Entheogens: Whats in a Name? The Untold History of ... [Last Updated On: June 19th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 19th, 2016]
- Entheogens - The SpiritWiki [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2016]
- CSP: Entheogens - Council on Spiritual Practices [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2016]
- Entheogens: mescaline, LSD, LSA, ALD, psilocybin, DMT ... [Last Updated On: June 22nd, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 22nd, 2016]
- Watch: Entering Godmode How Entheogens Tap ... - Reset.me [Last Updated On: June 27th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 27th, 2016]
- Q&A: On David Icke, Expectations, Unconditional Love, Deja ... [Last Updated On: July 3rd, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 3rd, 2016]
- Q&A: On David Icke, Expectations, Unconditional Love, Deja ... [Last Updated On: July 5th, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 5th, 2016]
- Entheogens - reddit [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2016]
- Entheogens - Imprint [Last Updated On: August 10th, 2016] [Originally Added On: August 10th, 2016]
- In A Perfect World | Free Podcasts | PodOmatic [Last Updated On: September 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: September 29th, 2016]
- Entheogen - New World Encyclopedia [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2016] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2016]
- Urban Dictionary: entheogen [Last Updated On: October 8th, 2016] [Originally Added On: October 8th, 2016]
- Homepage of Martin W Ball [Last Updated On: November 30th, 2016] [Originally Added On: November 30th, 2016]
- What are endeogens entheogens? - 5-MeO- DMT [Last Updated On: November 30th, 2016] [Originally Added On: November 30th, 2016]
- Entheogens and Spirituality | Kava | Kratom | Teacher Plants [Last Updated On: December 25th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 25th, 2016]
- Entheogens - Reality Sandwich [Last Updated On: February 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 4th, 2017]
- Entheogen | Psychology Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia [Last Updated On: February 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 4th, 2017]
- A conversation with Haroon Mirza - Ocula Magazine [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- So A Minister, A Rabbi And A Buddhist Took Drugs For Science... - Huffington Post [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- So A Minister, A Rabbi And A Buddhist Took Drugs For Science... - Huffington Post South Africa (blog) [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Pro-Marijuana Alabama Church Promotes Psychoactive Drugs as Medicine - MERRY JANE [Last Updated On: March 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 21st, 2017]
- In Alabama church, marijuana is part of spiritual journey - Tuscaloosa News [Last Updated On: March 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 23rd, 2017]
- Dank Magic: How Witches Use Weed in Their Craft - Broadly [Last Updated On: April 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: April 21st, 2017]
- Lamp & Labyrinth: Conceptualizing a Multitude of Spirits - Patheos (blog) [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2017]
- 5 of the World's Most Mind-Bending Drug Cultures - National Geographic Australia [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2017]
- The Entheogenic Evolution | Free Podcasts | PodOmatic [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2017]
- OH to NY to AL: Claude Lawrence Cornett - Patheos (blog) [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2017]
- What is the Difference Between Entheogens and Drugs? [Last Updated On: May 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 14th, 2017]
- The Deep Mind in the Cave: Awakening Consciousness in the Spirit of AI - The Sociable [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2017]
- Psychedelics touted as solution for society - Ashland Daily Tidings [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2017]
- Entheogens | Drug War Facts [Last Updated On: June 5th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 5th, 2017]
- Entheogen [Last Updated On: June 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 15th, 2017]
- Virtual Reality Takes Consciousness Research into Mystic Realms of the Divine Play - The Sociable [Last Updated On: June 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 26th, 2017]
- Entheogens : Al-Kemi : spagyrics and alchemy [Last Updated On: June 27th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 27th, 2017]
- The History and Possibilities of Putting Weed in Your Witchcraft - Seattle Weekly [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2017]
- Entheogen - PsychonautWiki [Last Updated On: July 1st, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 1st, 2017]
- The Summer of Love was more than hippies and LSD it was the ... - The Conversation UK [Last Updated On: July 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 7th, 2017]
- The Summer of Love was more than hippies and LSD it was the start of modern individualism - Metro Newspaper UK [Last Updated On: July 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 8th, 2017]
- The Poisoner: Pharmakos and Veneficus-Poisoner's Apothecary - Patheos (blog) [Last Updated On: July 19th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 19th, 2017]
- How San Francisco's Summer of Love sparked today's religious movements - Religion News Service [Last Updated On: July 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 22nd, 2017]
- The Summer of Love was more than hippies and LSD it was the start of modern individualism - The Independent [Last Updated On: July 24th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 24th, 2017]
- 'Summer of Love' shaped American lives, spiritual expression - Houston Chronicle [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2017] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2017]
- Outside the Box - HuffPost [Last Updated On: August 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 13th, 2017]
- How San Francisco's Summer of Love sparked religious movements - The Oakland Press [Last Updated On: August 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 25th, 2017]
- The Return Trip: Psychedelics may come back from the abyss of illegality - Valley Advocate [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2019]
- Entheogen - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2020] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2020]
- Entheogens | Sacred Geometry [Last Updated On: June 15th, 2020] [Originally Added On: June 15th, 2020]
- There's More to the CHOP Than What the Media Will Have You Believe - Study Breaks [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- The Only Obstacle To A Healthy World Is Government Secrecy And Propaganda - Scoop.co.nz [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Oakland continues move to protect entheogen plants - The Leaf Online [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2020]
- The Potential (and Peril) of Legalizing Psychedelics - Progressive.org [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2021]
- Following Local Successes, Cambridge State Rep. Puts Forward Bills on Controlled Substance Reform | News - Harvard Crimson [Last Updated On: March 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: March 29th, 2021]
- Opinion | Is it time for Seattle to decriminalize shrooms and psychedelics? - Crosscut [Last Updated On: April 15th, 2021] [Originally Added On: April 15th, 2021]
- Zide Door Oaklands Church of Entheogenic Plants [Last Updated On: April 15th, 2021] [Originally Added On: April 15th, 2021]
- Psychedelic Experience launches new website to help navigate the world of psychedelics - PRNewswire [Last Updated On: April 25th, 2021] [Originally Added On: April 25th, 2021]
- Jews, Christians, and Muslims Are Reclaiming Ancient Psychedelic Practices, And That Could Help With Legalization - Rolling Stone [Last Updated On: April 25th, 2021] [Originally Added On: April 25th, 2021]
- Red Light Holland and Headland West Indies Lead #SVGStrong, a Relief Effort in St. Vincent and the Grenadines - InvestorIntel [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2021]
- Native Tribes Should Have More Say in the Psychedelic Movement - Green Entrepreneur [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2021]
- The psychedelic revolution is coming. Psychiatry may never be the same - bdnews24.com [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2021]
- Biden said he'd cut down on unemployment benefits, but he really might reinstate a pre-pandemic job-seeking policy The Madison Leader Gazette - The... [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2021]
- Winners of Columbia@Roundabout's 2021 New Play Reading Series Announced - Broadway World [Last Updated On: June 24th, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 24th, 2021]
- Group Hopes to Decriminalize Entheogens (Psychoactive Plant Substances) Within Arcata City Limits Redheaded Blackbelt - Redheaded Blackbelt [Last Updated On: July 5th, 2021] [Originally Added On: July 5th, 2021]
- With Push From New Nonprofit, Arcata City Council Will Soon Consider a Resolution That Would Decriminalize Psychedelic Plants and Fungi in Arcata -... [Last Updated On: July 7th, 2021] [Originally Added On: July 7th, 2021]
- Witch City Tarot & Divination Gathering | Coby Michael Ward - Patheos [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2021] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2021]
- Psychedelics Decriminalization Advancing In Three More Cities, Spanning From Coast To Coast - Marijuana Moment [Last Updated On: August 4th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 4th, 2021]
- Two Years After Oakland's Psychedelic Decrim, What's Been the Impact? - Filter [Last Updated On: August 4th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 4th, 2021]
- University of Michigan police say safety will be top priority at psychedelic shroom festival - MLive.com [Last Updated On: August 22nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 22nd, 2021]
- Psychedelic Drug Therapy: Tips and Support for the Experience - Greatist [Last Updated On: August 28th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 28th, 2021]
- National Hemp Association Asks Congress To Budget $1 Billion To Support Industry Innovation - Marijuana Moment [Last Updated On: September 12th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 12th, 2021]
- Oregon Psilocybin Panel Teams Up With Harvard To Research Psychedelic History And Impacts Of Reform - Marijuana Moment [Last Updated On: September 12th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 12th, 2021]
- Jarvis Brookfield on his psychedelic paintings, dream-like states and what it means to be human - Creative Boom [Last Updated On: September 12th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 12th, 2021]
- From Cannabis MSO To Drug Development: Goodness Growth Wants To Understand Traditional Psychedelics Use - - Benzinga [Last Updated On: September 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 16th, 2021]
- Congressman Says He'll Bring The Psychedelics Reform Movement To Capitol Hill 'This Year' - Marijuana Moment [Last Updated On: October 7th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 7th, 2021]
- An upcoming election, pay requirement, and holiday, this week - KUOW News and Information [Last Updated On: October 30th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 30th, 2021]