The California Senate has just decided to legalize possession of most psychedelics

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The California Senate has just given final approval to a landmark law that would make it legal for every adult in the Golden State to own, use, and share almost any psychedelic drug.

Although lawmakers have officially designated this bill as a decriminalization initiative, the legislation clearly states that it would “legalize” possession and social sharing of psilocybin, DMT, LSD, MDMA, ibogaine, and just about any other psychedelic drug. The law would also make it legal to cultivate and transport psilocybin mushrooms or spores, but anyone caught making LSD or other chemically-derived hallucinogens could still be prosecuted.

The law would legalize possession of almost all natural and synthetic hallucinogens, but it specifically excludes mescaline from the peyote cactus from the list of decriminalized drugs. This legislation states that this exclusion is due to the “near-endangered status of the peyote plant and the special importance of peyote in Native American spirituality,” reports Marijuana Moment.

And while the legislation would allow adults to own psychedelics and share them with friends, it does not create a retail market for these hallucinogens. Anyone caught selling these drugs would still be arrested and face the same criminal penalties that apply today. However, the draft law would set up a working group to examine the feasibility of “safe and equal access to certain substances in permissible legal contexts”. This group would have to submit these recommendations by January 1, 2024.

State Senator Scott Weiner (D), sponsor of the bill, told his co-legislators that “this approach takes us away from the failed war on drugs, which rests on the heavily flawed premise that people will be criminalized, arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned for drug use “. will somehow deter their use and somehow improve public safety, ”reports Marijuana Moment. “If anything we have learned from the last half century is that people who are jailed for drug use don’t stop drug use.”

The original version of the bill would have provided automatic deletions for anyone previously charged with possession of psychedelics, and would have allowed people currently serving sentences for possession of these drugs to apply for re-convictions. But in the final hearing of the bill, the legislature changed the law to remove these provisions entirely.

After the committee passed the amended bill, it was passed by the entire Senate with a narrow but decisive 21:16 votes. However, to become law, it has yet to be approved by the State House and Governor Gavin Newsom.

This exciting new law is the latest step in a larger effort to bring psychedelics reform to the Golden State. Oakland passed a resolution in 2019 decriminalizing possession of most natural psychedelics, and Santa Cruz passed a similar resolution the following year. Advocacy group Decriminalize California is currently working with state lawmakers on a bill to fully legalize psilocybin mushrooms.