Group Hopes to Decriminalize Entheogens (Psychoactive Plant Substances) Within Arcata City Limits
Press release from Decriminalize Nature Humboldt:
On June 27th, 2021, Decriminalize Nature Humboldt met with Arcata City Council Member Sarah Schaefer about introducing a resolution to the city council to decriminalize entheogens within Arcata city limits. Schaefer agreed to sponsor the resolution.
The resolution to decriminalize entheogens in Arcata would establish that the investigation and arrest of persons for planting, cultivating, engaging in practices with, or possessing entheogenic plants and fungi or plant compounds shall be the lowest law enforcement priority for the City of Arcata and reprioritizing funding away from the arrest of individuals engaging with entheogenic practices. The City of Arcata has many other priorities for the use of its funds, staff, and law enforcement resources.
“This resolution is consistent with the beliefs held by many Arcatans. The decriminalization of entheogenic plants and fungi is an important step away from the war on drugs while expanding opportunities for research on the medicinal benefits of these plants and fungi. Research shows that these plants have the potential to help overcome anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and so much more, something that could be enormously beneficial to any community” said Sarah Schaefer, Arcata City Council Member.
“Decriminalization of the plant and fungi medicines in Arcata is the first step to right the wrong of the failed drug war. Nixon’s war was based on disrupting and arresting members in the civil rights group and anti-war group, not to protect people from substances and those who take them. This decision was based upon politics, not science” said Danielle Daniel, Lead Organizer of Decriminalize Nature Humboldt.
“Decriminalization of entheogenic plants and fungi creates attainable pathways toward healing, particularly for those living with treatment resistant mental health conditions, and creates safe, ethical, and equitable access to sacred medicines of the earth. All human beings should have the right and ability to cultivate relationships with these sacred plant teachers, and the healing journey they invite us to embark on” said Taylor Albamonti, Decriminalize Nature Humboldt Activist.
The Decriminalize Nature Humboldt group is hoping to meet with more members of the city council over the next month.
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You meen you want to legalize !!!!
Blllaaaaaa. Hhhaaaa hhhhaaaaaa
LOOK WHAT RIP OFF GOVERNMENT DID THE LAST TIME AND LEARN SOMETHING !!! CORPORATE AND GOVERNMENT THEFT COMING SOON
I guess that’s a valid point if you love the War on Drugs but hate Capitalism.
We are fighting for decriminalization, not legalization. Decriminalize Nature Humboldt is very aware of how easily these medicines could fall into the hands of big pharma, and we are against that. We are behind the grow, gather, gift model, where there will be access to healing for everyone in our communities. We definitely need all hands on deck to protect these sacred medicines. People should not be fearing arrest for healing and exploring their consciousness, which are both human rights. At the same time, these medicines should not be owned by any corporation. They are gifts from the land, and need to stay that way.
What is changing? Drugs have NEVER been a priority for the Arcata police department. Nor burglary, rape, murder. I’m pretty sure their directive has always been dui and dui only. That’s where the money is, not a safety thing for them.
Swallow your apathy Eeyore
So, when did you get caught for your DUI?
Much of the recent effort to reform laws regulating the “hippie psychedelics” has seemed to aim at making them more available for therapeutic use in a medical setting. It’s interesting, therefore, to see that this group chooses to spearhead their movement with the neologism invented by Gordon Wasson, Carl Ruck, Jonathan Ott, and others of their group in the 1970s, since “entheogen” was purposely coined to reframe the discussion around the ethnographically attested religious uses of peyote, ayahuasca, psilocybin-containing fungi, and the like.
Efforts to channel reform toward a broad allowance of spiritual practices with these substances that “generate the divine within” are crucial, but they run the risk of being steamrolled and excluded by models that medicalize psychedelics, à la the MAPS approach, if not by Babylonian recreational commerce.
The existence of precedents like the Supreme Court’s decision to protect religious ayahuasca use in O Centro is no guarantee that broader reform efforts will preserve this option for nascent churches or freelance individual spiritual practices.
Arcata is a great place to legalize all sorts of drugs !!!!
Passed out/stoned/violent drug users will fit right in… no wait, they are already there !!!
Dope (already legalized)
Opium
Morphine
Heroin
Cocaine
Psilocybin
Mescaline
Fentanyl is waiting for Eureka to legalize. Meth is waiting for McKinleyville.
The members of Decriminalize Nature Humboldt, strive to provide education for the community about entheogens. Entheogens are in fact medicines, not drugs. Psilocybin containing mushrooms are the most effective treatment to abstain from cigarettes, more so than anything else. Mescaline containing cacti are an effective treatment for alcoholism. Iboga helps opioid addicts and methamphetamine addicts break their addiction, and Ayahuasca is helpful to reduce relapse. As you can see, these entheogens actually help people get off of harmful substances, and are themselves non-addictive. In fact, caffeine is more addictive than any of these entheogens.
Hmmm… why don’t you give ‘common’ usage, these are all ‘recreational’ drugs.
Probably 99% of users do this.
Yup. Sure… Introduce more drugs… to combat the prior drugs… and then…
Magic mushrooms, Mescaline… drug preferred by hippies to provide exquisite dreams.
Morphine… (named after the Roman Dream God)… recreational drug back in the early 1900’s.
Concentrated Cocaine… legal recreational drug in the early 1900’s. Often combined with morphine to create a huge drug addict problem.
Heroin… (named after Greek Hero, Protector or Defender)… was created to combat Morphine addiction.
Took over the nation as the prime recreational drug. Then a new drug…Methadone was created to combat Heroin addiction.
Recreate and procreate then masticate, then defecate.
Articulate the need to placate.
Hesitate or cooperate.
You said it…”bozo”…
You lacks of due diligence and relevant awareness are showing bozo.
Just because some trolls haven’t a clue how these entheogenic substances are used outside of a party mentality doesn’t give any credence to claims of similarity w herion or meth etc.
Quit the fear mongering and look it up
Lmao! Wtf! Arcata is about 2 blow up with shroom farms!
Yea a buncha trash for greed’s sake from old weed growers using plastic tubs. Trash. Plastic trash.
I sure fuckin’hope so!🍄🤯☮️
Note that this category does NOT include any amphetamines.
These synthetic poisons are just too toxic for any plant to make.
You forgetting about ephedra?
Ephedrine is a stimulant, but not an amphetamine.
Ephedrine is NOT an amphetamine.
Mescaline is an amphetamine.
Amphetamines are perfectly natural, and found in plants.
No, it’s not. Mescaline is a phenethylamine, lacks the alpha-methyl of the amphetamine series.
Mescaline is NOT an amphetamine. It’s a beta-phenethylamine.
Amphetamines are a sub class of phenethylamine that have a methyl group in the alpha position. Mescaline doesnt have that feature.
You can’t take the A out of amphetamine
they’ll find a way to tax it if it’s legal.
I’ll vote to legalize mushrooms if you vote to legalize F-15s
I was going to comment but then I remembered that I’m moving soon and I really don’t give a fuck about this place sliding farther into the cesspool.
Enjoy it, Arcata!
PS to Danielle, ‘decriminaliztion’ is defacto making something legal. If it’s not illegal, then it’s legal. It’s kind of like being pregnant.
Spot on Pike… The left is on a race to the ethical and moral bottom…
Decriminalization and legalization are NOT the same legal concepts.
A little research can go a long way to dispelling ignorance, especially the vocal type.
I see ups and downs here. I think it’s fairly irresponsible to advocate for widespread use as medicine without widespread use of educated guides/therapists/counselors and appropriate settings. Dosing someone on the streets, those in our communities with the most acute needs, probably isn’t going to change much for the better. I’ll advocate for the possible benefits psychedelics have had on this persons life, but it’s not always peaches and cream. And, I get the symbolic value of engaging an increasingly development minded/gentrifying city council, but the only trouble people would be getting in in town is on a level with the 3 letter folks and that’s for big time movement. just gotta poke around
Actually people have been getting popped for picking mushrooms in Arcata and surrounding towns and unincorporated areas for decades.
The act of hunting and possesion of are a felony.
Insanely absurd
You’ve gotta be pretty outrageous to get catch an F for picking cyanescens.
No joke, on 3 occasions when I was living in Arcata, in different locations, I found half to ounce bags of boomers on the sidewalk. Its about as a easy place as they come to find what you want/need in the realm of psychedelics. Just gotta poke around
For sure…but the HCSO, APD, HSUPD, EPD have all known that for a very long time too.
In SF they grow in the shrubbery surrounding SFPD HQ.
::fist bump::
For sure. To be honest, if this were to go thru, I see it as another thing putting arcata on the map and I personally don’t feel that’s a good thing. Its also only a stones throw from regulation and look what a disaster that has been for the brothers and sisters growing herb. All I’m saying is that if people lay low, in Arcata of all places, any recognition from governmental agency isn’t really necessary and as such, any government intervention/recognition will eventually muddy the waters. I see them as bad faith actors, man.
After years of studying the endocannabinoid system, the results I see in studies of psilocybin suggest a “resetting” of the endocannabinoid system.
Amazing implications for health and well-being.
I think the proponents of this measure fail to grasp the problem on unintended consequences. Let’s assume that we universally allowed anyone to gather, gift, share these natural materials for either recreational or medicinal purposes without legal consequence. What do you think is likely to happen to the wild populations of these plants? You can look at ginseng for a comparable answer and it results in overexploitation if not outright extirpation of species. Not to mention frequent trespass problems for people seeking these compounds.
We’re already seeing problems like this with peyote and even plants like white sage that are used to “clean aura” as well as some amphibians that are being over-collected for hallucinogenic compounds. While I don’t outright dismiss either the medicinal or recreational use of some of these compounds, the risk for negative ecosystem impacts is simply too great to be actively promoted through decriminalization and the model being proposed by this group.
Good points…but not great reasoning for retaining the felony laws for basic possession anywhere.
Same thing happens with water.
It’s a people problem. Not a problem w the fungus.
It’s a good thing the top 20 feet of ole growth Redwood doesn’t get you high.
There wouldn’t be one left.
True Dat!
So where is my comment? Why are you censoring me Kym?
And you think you have traffic accidents now? Wait till everyone’s driving around on LSD and shrooms.
“No cocaine, mescaline, amphetamine, etc.. (Unfortunately this precludes LSD, even “organic” LSD derived from Ergot)”
As soon as you said NO the new black market started planning. Not to mention the 7,000 lbs of fentanyl stopped at the border in the last couple of months. But don’t worry plenty got though.
Having tried these mushrooms in small dosages, I can attest to a sense of balance and found it helped with my anxiety. Why is it pharmaceuticals are accepted yet nature’s pharmacy when used responsibly is discounted for its ability to heal? Alcohol is a much more destructive and harmful substance and abused with a variety of adverse effects.
Im sure all those “Arcatans” that support this b.s. live in a bush, infest the square Screaming at there invisible enemy’s ( shadow people ) while leaving there slug trail of human crap as there blanket drags. but sure mushrooms and lsd will be the saving grace of arcata. LMAO. Humboldt is so pathetic!
Your presumption and bias are showing.
Such certainty without viable evidence is anathema to reason.
Why is this in the crime section is my question
Because it will change the status of the plant from a crime.
[…] Nature Humboldt also shared in the press release on Friday that Arcata City Council Member Sarah Schaefer has agreed to sponsor the […]
[…] Nature Humboldt, the local chapter of psychedelic advocacy group Decriminalize Nature, initially issued a statement in early July, announcing that Arcata Council Member Sarah Schaefer had agreed to sponsor the bill, […]