Is California where psychedelics use could be legalized?
If passed, Senate Bill 519 would decriminalize personal possession of small amounts of seven psychedelic substances for Californians over the age of 21.
“This legislation sits at the intersection of two important issues. One is the fact that the war on drugs has failed, and [two is that] arresting and incarcerating people for using drugs just is not a good strategy,” state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, told “Inside the Issues” host Alex Cohen.
In a rare show of bipartisan agreement this year, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) came together to introduce proposals which would expand research into using psychedelics as a form of treatment.
The proposed National Defense Authorization Act for 2023, H.R. 7900, would allow researchers to study psychedelics as an alternative to opioids when treating pain, and und research into using psychedelics to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
Lawmakers in California are also considering new laws about these drugs and how they’re used. Wiener is the author of California’s Senate Bill 519 to decriminalize personal possession of small amounts of seven psychedelic.
The substances included in the bill are psilocybin, psilocyn, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).
A lot of peer-reviewed research shows psychedelic therapy greatly aids those dealing with depression, PTSD, other mental health concerns, as well as additional issues, Wiener noted.
“You can have whatever opinion you want about whether people should use a particular drug, but if someone is going to use a drug, it’s better if someone else is there. So if someone does have an adverse reaction, there’s someone there to help them,” Wiener said. “We also know that for psychedelics in particular. There are very skilled therapists who could help guide someone through a psychedelic experience. They’re very skilled at it, and it’s safer and more fruitful to do.”
People are coming to understand the “War on Drugs” in the 1970s was a failure to those incriminated, as well as a waste of taxpayer dollars, Wiener explained. The War on Drugs led to a massive increase in incarcerations for nonviolent drug offenses from 50,000 in 1980 to 400,000 in 1997. It began in 1971 when then-President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse to be “public enemy No. 1."
"[People] understand that the war on drugs is a complete failure, massive, massive waste of taxpayer dollars in the trillions of dollars over the last 50 years. They know that drug use is a health issue, it's not a criminal issue…people are seeing that," Wieber continued.
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