Voters in Denver, a city at the forefront of the widening national debate over legalizing marijuana, will decide on Tuesday whether to be the first in the nation to effectively decriminalize another recreational drug: hallucinogenic mushrooms. The local ballot measure would not quite legalize “magic” mushrooms, the ones that contain psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound. But if it passes, the measure would make the possession, use or cultivation of the mushrooms by people aged 21 or older the lowest-priority crime for law enforcement in the city of Denver and Denver County. Adoption of the measure could signal fledgling public acceptance of a mind-altering drug, outlawed nationally for nearly 50 years, that recent research suggests could have beneficial medical uses. A similar effort failed to get on the ballot in California last year, but it could come up again in 2020; Oregon voters may also vote on a comparable measure next year.

Source: New York Times May 07, 2019 10:30 UTC