Last week, the city of Port Townsend became the latest city to decriminalize entheogenic fungi and plants through a measure that was unanimously adopted by the city council of Port Townsend. This Washington State city is the latest city to relax its policy on psychedelic substances.
Under the approved measure, laws against natural psychedelic plants including ayahuasca, peyote and magic mushrooms, will be the lowest priority for law enforcement in the city. Natural psychedelic substances are sometimes referred to as entheogenic fungi and plants. The initiative also conveys support for the decriminalization of psychedelic drugs at the federal level. In addition to this, it also stipulates that the abuse of controlled substances is deemed to be a public health issue.
Leaders in the city modeled their psychedelics decriminalization measure after the initiative that was approved by the city council of Seattle earlier this year. The Port Townsend Psychedelics Society, which is exploring the potential for psychedelics in healing and is dedicated to the decriminalization of entheogenic plants, also helped draft the measure.
In an interview, Port Townsend Psychedelics Society cofounder Erin Reading stated that the society was excited that the city had approved a measure supporting entheogen decriminalization, having worked on the issue for more than two years. Reading added that the society would focus their energy into other facets of the psychedelic society, including growing accessibility to these drugs, offering educational trainings and workshops, and strengthening connections in the community.
Heally CEO Greg Rovner also applauded the decision of the city council to decriminalize entheogenic fungi and plants. Heally is a telemedicine platform based in California, developed for psychedelic clinics and patients seeking alternative medicine treatment.
Research on the potential medicinal applications of natural psychedelic drugs continues to grow. Findings from a study published in the JAMA psychiatry journal last year show that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy was rapid and effective in treating major depressive disorder. Separate research published in 2016 also found that treating anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer using psilocybin caused sustained and significant decreases in both mental conditions.
The first major municipality to decriminalize psychedelic substances was Denver, which approved a decriminalization measure in 2019. Since then, similar initiatives have been passed by Cambridge, Washington D.C. and Oakland. Additionally, voters in the state of Oregon approved a ballot initiative in November 2020 that decriminalized psilocybin and legalized its therapeutic use.
Given how much progress companies such as Cybin Inc. (NYSE American: CYBN) (NEO: CYBN) have made in their quest to develop psychedelic-based remedies for various mental health indications, it isn’t surprising that the public is catching on and demanding for policy change in their cities and states.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Cybin Inc. (NEO: CYBN) (NYSE American: CYBN) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CYBN
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