In a shocking twist to a vote that appeared all but locked up, the city of Denver, Colorado has seemingly chosen to decriminalize magic mushrooms — a hallucinogenic drug.
Dubbed Initiative 301, the decriminalization measure passing by a razor-thin vote margin of 50.56 percent to 49.44 percent in the “final unofficial results,” the Los Angeles Times reported. The official, official results will be revealed on May 16.
“The last 24 hours have been a hell of a ride,” Kevin Matthews, who heads Decriminalize Denver, a leading force behind the ordinance, told the newspaper. “Most of the votes are in, though there are still some outstanding absentee ballots. This is the unofficial, official victory.”
Matthews added that the vote sends a message to the rest of the country.
“That message is that the American people are ready for a broader conversation around psilocybin and that no person should ever be treated like a criminal for using a mushroom,” he said.
The ordinance doesn’t actually make the sale and use of magic mushrooms legal, per se, instead it essentially prohibits authorities from enforcing criminal penalties on anyone who’s in possession of the drug.
Mushrooms are, of course, not the first drugs that have been held up for legal debate in Denver. The city decriminalized marijuana in 2005, seven years before Colorado became the first state to legalize it. The city also tried to pass measure late last year that would’ve opened safe injection sites for intravenous drug users that failed when it was declared illegal by state and federal authorities, according to the LA Times.
Editor’s Note: RealClearLife, a news and lifestyle publisher, is now a part of InsideHook. Together, we’ll be covering current events, pop culture, sports, travel, health and the world.
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
