In case you missed it: Somerville will ignore use/possession of psychedelics

[squirrelitude]

A cool bit of local news that I missed until I happened to see an offhand reference in a national newspaper: Somerville has, to the extent it is possible for a city to do so, decriminalized all naturally-occurring psychedelic drugs: https://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?MeetingID=3289&ID=24035

- The city can't use "funds or resources" in enforcement of criminal penalties against "use or possession" of these plants (and fungi).
- Changed to be "amongst the lowest law enforcement priority": Cultivation and transactions of entheogenic plants/fungi; use/possession of controlled substances in general

Until the county, state, and federal government are on board there will of course be some risk of having your life ruined by possessing psychedelics, but... for people who were already at risk of having their life ruined by *not* having certain psychedelics, this is a big improvement.

(The city cites the opioid epidemic and the therapeutic uses of these drugs as strong reasons to make this change.)

Comments

[gingicat]

Cool!

[pru]

that is cool!

[squirrelitude]

Update: I also learned that Cambridge has apparently passed a similar ordinance, but I couldn't find a primary source for that, just some news articles.

[jducoeur]

Oh, nice -- it's always good to see the City coming down on the side of sensible policy...