With this week’s city council vote in the legendary Santa Cruz, California, psilocybin, the active psychedelic ingredient contained in magic mushrooms, has been officially decriminalized. This makes quite a statement in politics, as this makes Santa Cruz the third city to do so in the United States. The voting does not actually legalize the consumption of the substance, but it flags it as a low-priority matter for the authorities.
This is a great step towards progress in the overall acceptance of psychedelic substances. Similar plants, such as Ayahuasca and magic truffles, are also contained in this new ruling. The vote marks a milestone for this era, as more and more places around the globe start to take these decisions into consideration.
From History To Future
As new as it may seem, researchers had already found actual therapeutic use for these substances a long time ago. In the 1950’s, researchers already knew about their therapeutical uses. Doctors later studied how consumption triggered psychosis in predisposed patients, leaving a stigma that would remain for years to come.
The study of psychedelics was shut down in 1970 by the Controlled Substances Act. Experimenting on these kind of substances returned only after the 2000s and has been happening ever since. A recent study shows that it can help people cope with suicidal thoughts and addictions.
So the question may be: are they good, or are they bad? Even then – is that something we can ever really answer for an entire group of people? Well, we can‘t know for sure at the moment, but this might be tipping the scale. At this point, it seems as if they’re found to be more useful than harmful.
To this point, it’s already proven that the use of psilocybin in terminal cancer patients shows significantly positive results. The studies confirm that it also helps to decrease anxiety, depression and even PTSD. With this new vote, we’re excited to see Santa Cruz taking a step towards positive acceptance of mushrooms. We look forward to where the future will take the rest of the globe as well.
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