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As Legal Marijuana Booms, Denver Votes on Decriminalizing Hallucinogenic Mushrooms
The movement to “Decriminalize Denver” is the nation’s first public referendum on “magic mushrooms,” after an effort in California failed to reach the ballot last year. Initiative 301 would apply only to Denver, not the entire state of Colorado. It would place into city code the directive that enforcing laws for personal use or possession of psilocybin mushrooms “shall be the lowest law enforcement priority in the City and County of Denver,” though having the mushrooms would still technically be illegal. The mushrooms would not be available in the city’s cannabis dispensaries, and sales would still be classified as a felony. They would remain classified a Schedule I drug under federal law, as is marijuana, with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”[…]

Legal Marijuana is Coming, but New York is Far from Ready
Everyone has an interest in successful legalization
of the cannabis market. If legalization does not go well, no elected official will benefit from a political rival’s embarrassment, because no one will escape blame. It’s time to start collective planning in a big hurry before the wave hits.

The New York Cannabis Parade has Finally Gone Mainstream
It took nearly five decades, but the New York Cannabis Parade has finally gone mainstream. “We have an unprecedented lineup of elected officials this year,” says co-organizer Noah Potter, an attorney specializing in drug policy. “We’ve never had anything comparable.”
The “very bold and forward-thinking” City Councilman Rafael Espinal was the first elected official to participate in the march, and that was just in 2015. In 2018, there are seven politicians taking part; New York governor hopeful Cynthia Nixon has also come out in support for legalization.[…]

Psychedelic Markets of the Future
Discussions of legalizing psychedelics to date consist of more questions than answers. The medical model is insufficient but there have been few specific suggestions as to how to proceed. I propose some foundational principles.[…]

What is Psychedelic Law?
Dear Readers: It is time to conceptualize the structure of legal access to psychedelics. I started this blog in 2010 with the intention of laying the foundation for the development of Psychedelic Law, an examination of the unique characteristics of psychedelics, with the goal of extricating them from the antiquated “narcotics control” model to which[…]

Legal History of Psychedelics
In the 1950s and early 1960s, over 1,000 scientific papers were written about LSD, an exciting phenomenon new to Western medicine that offered an unprecedented window into brain function and revolutionary potential in mental health care. By 1970, the status of LSD and other psychedelics had changed dramatically; they were branded a menace to society and were included in Schedule I of the new federal Controlled Substances Act, the category for substances with no currently accepted medical use. Almost 50 years later,[…]