By Lorilyn C. Lily
Dontae Payne, a member of Olympia City Council and chair of the Community Public Safety and Habitability Committee, is considering having a thorough discussion of psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs on his committee.
“If the council and this committee are interested in exploring … this is something I would see as something that would happen through this committee,” Payne announced during the committee meeting on Monday, April 25th.
Pro Tem Mayor Clark Gilman first raised the issue of psilocybin mushrooms at a recent city council meeting.
Gilman said there is a movement in the community to do non-commercial activities on psychedelic or other naturally growing psychedelic mushrooms as an alternative treatment for opioid addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD treatment and decriminalize activities related to this.
Gilman informed city council members that Seattle and Port Townsend recently passed ordinances that decriminalized natural psychedelics and made entheogen-related activities (use of psychoactive plants or fungi) the lowest priority for enforcement. and processing.
“The idea is that these substances of natural origin can be ingested in fairly large amounts and not kill the person,” Gilman said, adding that the same is also used with military veterans for the treatment of PTSD.
They don’t cut with amphetamines or speed which gives all the problems we have with drugs on the street. Therefore, the organizations are using them as an alternative way to recover from opioid addiction “, added the mayor.
“Use is medically supervised with a nurse and mental health professionals to help someone use things,” Gilman added.
Payne said he has many questions on the subject. “For example, to what extent is it necessary and relevant for us to do something like this in the city? How many of our annual arrests are related to this? “
Repealed federal and state regulations
Gilman noted that the federal government still considers psychedelic mushrooms (others call them magic mushrooms) to be class 1 on the same level as narcotics and heroin. “[the advocates ask] There are ways to pave the way for people to use it safely and not risk being taken to jail. “
The Washington State Senate discussed a bill that would legalize some uses of psilocybin during its sessions earlier this year. The bill was stopped by the commission.
