From Marijuana To Mushrooms, Voters Want Drug Laws Eased

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November 5th, 2020

A DC resident has an operation growing psilocybin mushrooms, including these Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, in Washington, DC, on Monday, February 5, 2020. With the legalization of marijuana, advocates are now pushing for other legalizations, like psilocybin mushrooms. Activists in Colorado, Oregon and California have pushed for approval of psilocybin mushrooms and now folks in the District are starting. Many claim medicinal uses – depression, PTSD and other disorders – as is the case in some European countries.

Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post via Getty Im

In states across the country, voters sent a clear message they wanted restrictions on recreational drug use eased. Yesterday, residents of Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota voted to join the ranks of 11 other states that have done so.

In 2012, Colorado and Washington made the leap to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Colorado has collected $1.23 billion in marijuana taxes and fees since 2014, including more than $302 million last year alone. Washington eclipsed Colorado that same year, collecting $395.5 million.

Oregon, which legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2014, went a step further Tuesday and voted to decriminalize illicit drugs. Measure 110 makes the possession of small quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines and other drugs a civil violation subject to a $100 fine, but no jail time. However, the measure does not go so far as to decriminalize the manufacture or sale of drugs.

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