Washington, D.C. voters approved an initiative decriminalizing the use of magic mushrooms and other psychedelic plants Tuesday night.
Initiative 81, the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020, makes the prosecution of those using or selling psychedelic plants “among the Metropolitan Police Department’s lowest law enforcement priorities,” the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Decision Desk HQ reported late Tuesday evening that over 76% of votes for the ballot initiative were in favor of the initiative. (RELATED: Madison Cawthorn Wins North Carolina Congressional Seat)
#BREAKING: DC posts prelimary results & overwhelmingly people vote to decriminalize magic mushrooms & other psychedelic plants @fox5dc pic.twitter.com/zMu1krzkXl
— Lindsay Watts (@LindsayAWatts) November 4, 2020
City government employee Melissa Lavasani, who introduced the initiative and has said that using microdoses of psychedelic mushrooms helped her through postpartum depression, said Tuesday that she hopes the initiative will help normalize plant medicine.
“We have changed the game here,” she said, according to the Post. “We have shifted this dialogue. We are trying to normalize mental health.”
The initiative now goes to the D.C. Council for review, the Post reported, and if it is not overturned, it will go to Congress for review. The initiative will go into effect if Congress does not reject it within 30 days.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.