rado votes on decriminalizing ‘magic mushrooms’ // Colorado voters will decide Tuesday if their state will be the second to legalize the use of psychedelic mushroom. A ballot initiative would make psychedelic mushrooms legal for anyone aged 21 or older. It would also create state-regulated healing centers where participants can try the drug under the supervision and supervision of a licensed facilitator. It would create a regulated system to allow the use of substances such as psilocybin or psilocin, hallucinogenic chemicals found within some mushrooms. It would also allow private use of the drug. THE NATIONAL PARKING SERVICE ADVISES TO ‘REFRAIN from LICKING’ TOXIC PSYCHEDELIC TOADS The initiative would go into effect in 2024 if it is passed. It would also allow a state advisory board the ability to add plant-based psychoedelic drugs into the program in 2026. These include dimethyltryptamine (also known as DMT) and mescaline, not derived from Peyote. Some Native Americans consider this sacred. Proponents claimed that Colorado’s current mental health approach has failed. They also claimed that naturally occurring psychedelics have been used for hundreds and years and can be used to treat depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction, and other conditions. Proponents also claimed that jailing people for using naturally occurring substances is a nonviolent offense and costs taxpayers money. ARIZONA OFFICERS STOP LOADS OVER 200,000 FENTANYL PILS, COCAINE AND METH HIDDEN VEHICLES Critics pointed out that the Food and Drug Administration had not approved the substances for use as medicine. They also claimed that allowing healing centers to open and permitting personal use would jeopardize the public safety, and send the wrong message to children and adults alike about how the substances are safe. This move comes a decade ago, when Colorado legalized recreational marijuana. Hundreds of dispensaries sprung up all over the state. Critics of the new ballot initiative claim that the same deep-pocketed people who helped legalize recreational marijuana used a similar strategy to create a market and then recreational dispensaries . OPIOID-ADDICTED FATHER ARRESTED, AFTER TODDLER DIES FROM FENTANYL Schedule 1 controlled substances are drugs that are not currently approved for medical use and have a high potential to be abused and are therefore decriminalized. The FDA has nonetheless designated psilocybin as a “breakthrough treatment” for major depressive disorder. If a drug is likely to offer significant improvements over existing treatments, it can be expedited through research, development, and review. Colorado’s ballot initiative would allow anyone 21 or older to possess, grow, and share psychedelic drugs but not for their personal use. It would also allow those convicted of drug-related offenses to have their criminal records sealed. After 56% of voters approved Ballot Measure109, Oregon became the first state to legalize therapeutic, supervised use psilocybin in 2020. Oregon, however, allows counties to opt-out of the program, as opposed to the Colorado measure. Oregon’s initiative will take effect in the first quarter of next year. Washington, D.C. and Denver have decriminalized psychedelic mushroom use by requiring law enforcement officers that they be treated as their lowest priority.