East Lansing kills proposal to decriminalize psychedelics

WEDNESDAY, May 25 — Psychedelic drugs are still illegal in East Lansing.

The East Lansing City Council voted 3-2 last night to reject a proposal that would’ve immediately decriminalized the cultivation, use and possession of entheogenic plants — including all-natural plants, cacti-like peyote and psychedelic “magic mushrooms.”

Mayor Ron Bacon, who voted against the proposal, said the maneuver didn’t align with state and federal laws that make those substances illegal. He was also concerned that the mixed messaging would create a confusing “gray area” for both consumers and local police officers.

“It’s a well-structured resolution, but it ends up being performative,” Bacon explained.

The proposed resolution — which came to the floor last night following weeks of pressure from the mid-Michigan chapter of Decriminalize Nature — would’ve notched those drug charges to the lowest possible rung of police priorities, essentially directing local cops to look the other way if they see anyone planting, cultivating, buying, selling, possession or using entheogenic plants.

Those crimes would instead become “the lowest law enforcement priority for the city,” it read.

The resolution didn’t list specific substances, but the proposed policy directive presumably would’ve also included substances like ayahuasca and DMT; hallucination-inducing psilocybin and psilocin; dissociative mescaline and ibogaine from the roots of the Tabernanthe iboga plant.

Many users have cited success in treating a variety of ailments with those entheogenic plants, including substance abuse, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic depression.

And while nobody on the Council seemed fundamentally opposed to the spirit of the policy shift last night, at least three Council members were concerned the change would create confusion — especially after City Attorney Anthony Chubb encouraged the Council to kill the resolution.

He mentioned “high level concerns” about possible city liabilities in the event of an injury or death, discrepancies between local police policies and state law, and conflicts over “selective enforcement” where the Council essentially dictates which laws should and shouldn’t be valid.

“This is not a resolution to modify our code to legalize something because we cannot,” he said, noting that he wrote a confidential memo about “potential legal consequences” if it were to pass.

Councilwoman Lisa Babcock said the mixed messages could also lead to some residents believing that psychedelics are fully legal in East Lansing while still prohibited by state law. As a result, different law enforcement agencies like the Michigan State Police may react differently.

“I can’t vote for this because we can’t legalize it for you. It’s not quite our place,” Babcock said.

Mayor Pro-Tem Jessy Gregg and Councilwoman Dana Watson voted in support of the proposal. Councilman George Brookover, who kept silent during the meeting, voted against the change.

But while advocates for decriminalizing psychedelic drugs may have lost last night’s battle in East Lansing, the statewide war to steeply decriminalize entheogenic plants is still ongoing.

Petitions for the “Michigan Initiative for Community Healing,” are circulating now and aim to send to the ballot in November a proposal that would make Michigan the second state in the nation to heavily decriminalize the use and possession of all natural plants and mushrooms. 

The proposal calls for a rewrite of the state law that dictates the penalties for the use and possession of those substances, notching them all down from four-year felony charges to a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of only $100 with no possibility of jail time upon conviction. Only certified religious groups and hospitals would be able to sell and distribute them, but individuals would also be free to cultivate their own and “give away” their harvest. 

Organizers need at least 340,000 signatures to bring the measure to a statewide vote.

Click here to read more information about the statewide proposal.