Four more cities across the country are looking at enacted psychedelic decriminalization laws for residents. Currently, there are eight cities, one county in Michigan, and the entire state of Oregon that have set forward psychedelic decriminalization laws. Oregon even took it a step further and legalized psychedelics for medicinal purposes. If these new cities approve their individual measures, the total city count will reach 12. 

Easthampton 

This Massachusetts city could be the fourth in the state to decriminalize psychedelics. It would join Somerville, Cambridge, and Northampton.​ Easthampton City Council is exploring a current measure to decriminalize psychedelics. To clarify, this wouldn’t legalize sales or the plants themselves. It would make psychedelic possession and arrests one of the lowest priorities among law enforcement. 

“This is an opportunity to be forward-thinking and make a statement to undo historical harm done by criminalizing plants that have clear therapeutic properties,” City Councilor Owen Zaret said in a press release. He, along with two other city councilors are pushing the reform measure forward. “People should not be arrested or incarcerated for essentially using medicine. This lays a path towards legislation that allows for de-scheduling these plants, and creating a reasonable and safe regulatory framework for entheogenic therapy outside of the reach of Big Pharma.”

City council members join two state organizations, Bay Staters for Natural Medicine and Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP). In addition, volunteers have already met with law enforcement officers to discuss decriminalization efforts for psychedelics. 

“Many officers know arrests can make people suffering substance use disorder even worse off,” James Davis, a volunteer for Bay Staters for Natural Medicine, said. “We are grateful to first-responders having tough conversations in their own departments about how to treat people with humanity—possession arrests lose people their jobs, traumatize them, lose them access to benefits, and often makes fentanyl access easier in jails and prisons.”

Not only would Easthampton become the fourth city in Massachusetts to decriminalize psychedelics, the state itself is looking to create a psychedelic legalization task force. This task force would look into the potential benefits of psychedelics and its statewide legalization. 

Grand Rapids

Next, the City Commissioner of Grand Rapids, Michigan spoke with the decriminalization activist group Decriminalize Nature about submitting a measure to the city council. “In terms of my discussions with my colleagues, they’re all very open minded to it,” City Commissioner Kurt Reppart told MLive news. “Several of them have expressed explicit support. I believe we have enough support to pass a resolution.”

For Grand Rapids, this proposed measure would also include decriminalization measures, but not legalization itself. It will most likely follow the same structure Ann Arbor, Michigan approved last year. This made Ann Arbor the first city in the state and the Midwest to decriminalize psychedelic possession and cultivation. 

“Decriminalizing things that are not harming anyone ought to be the first thing that we take away from law enforcement and say, ‘You know what, we’ve been asking you to do that. You no longer have to go to those places where you don’t have the training and the expertise and it’s always uncomfortable,’” City Commissioner Reppart concluded.

Arcata

California continues to lead the way regarding reform measures. And its cities aren’t any different. Following Oakland and Santa Cruz, Arcata, California city council is already voting and approving a psychedelic decriminalization measure. Most recently, on July 21, the City Council Public Safety Committee voted to move the decriminalization measure forward to the full city council. 

Similarly, the psychedelic decriminalization measure again became brought forward by Decriminalize Nature. “The city has the power to prioritize where law enforcement goes and then where the resources go for that,” Larry Norris said. He’s the co-founder of Decriminalize Nature. “It doesn’t change the law. There are no changes to municipal code, but [decriminalization] really allows for the city to say, ‘Hey, plants and mushrooms aren’t really a big priority for us, we have other things going on.’”

No date for the full council vote has been set yet. But the California Senate did approve a psychedelic decriminalization bill for statewide possession and decriminalization. SB 519 is now waiting for a vote in the California General Assembly.

Spokane

Drug possession became a crime again in Washington state after the state’s Supreme Court ruled on State v Blake. This case struck down the state’s felony drug possession law as unconstitutional. Since then, activists have been working to decriminalize drug possession once again. It seems Spokane is one of the first in the state to take the next step forward. 

Decriminalize Spokane is moving the initiative forward, led by Mason Lord. This initiative was filed as a ballot measure, meaning the people would decide the outcome. Lord spoke about why the organization is looking to decriminalize psychedelics.

“We’re really concerned with jail time. People do not belong in prison or jail because they possess a natural substance, or plant that grows in nature,” he told local news. Lord himself uses psychedelics to combat his PTSD following a near fatal accident he had been a part of. 

“I think we (Decriminalize Spokane) ultimately do believe it (psychedelics) just extends beyond the potential risk of getting arrested, it’s important for people to be aware that they’re not a criminal when they ingest” a psychedelic, Lord said.

The measure has been submitted and accepted by the Spokane City Council. Likewise, Lord and his group are now collecting signatures to put the decriminalization measure on the 2022 ballot. 

Future

It seems psychedelic decriminalization is spreading across the country alongside cannabis legalization. Even lawmakers in Congress, such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., are pushing for a change in psychedelics. Representative Ocasio-Cortez proposed an amendment to the latest spending bill. It would remove barriers to Schedule I drugs, like psychedelics and cannabis, and allow researchers to study and understand the substances. 

The congresswoman’s amendment ultimately failed to become a part of the overall spending bill. However, it gained attention and could come back again next year. Should any cities move forward with psychedelic decriminalization measures, we will update you with the latest.

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