State board OKs petition to decriminalize psychedelic drugs

WEDNESDAY, March 23 — The state of Michigan is one step closer to fully decriminalizing psychedelic plants and mushrooms after the state’s Board of Canvassers voted this morning to re-approve petition language that could eventually make its way to the ballot in November.

But first: Organizers must now collect 340,000 signatures by June to put the plans in motion.

“I’d say I’m relieved, but it’s pretty daunting,” said Myc Williams, codirector of the Michigan chapter of Decriminalize Nature. “We’ve got a very limited number of days to make this happen.”

He added: “It doesn’t mean it can’t be done. We have an amazing team ready to go — as well as a few Aces up our sleeve on making this happen. We’re still feeling good about it right now.”

The proposal, titled the “Michigan Initiative for Community Healing,” aims to make Michigan the second state in the nation to steeply decriminalize the use and possession of all natural plants and mushrooms. Among them: both ayahuasca and DMT; “magic mushrooms” that contain hallucinogenic psilocybin and psilocin; various cacti such as peyote and others that contain the dissociative mescaline; and ibogaine from the roots of the Tabernanthe iboga plant.

The state board voted to approve the petition language last month, but it had to be re-approved this morning due to a technical error. And it went through without a hitch, Williams explained.

“It’s really been a fantastic week for us. There’s a lot of momentum,” he said, noting that the City Council in Hazel Park voted yesterday evening to decriminalize entheogenic plants and fungi —  now the third city in Michigan to do so behind Ann Arbor (and Washtenaw County) and Detroit.

If organizers are able to collect enough signatures by June 1, voters could decide in November whether state law should be rewritten to notch down the penalties statewide for the use and possession of psychedelic drugs from a four-year felony charge to a ticketable misdemeanor.

Only certified religious groups and hospitals would actually be able to sell and distribute them, but individuals would also be free to cultivate their own and “give away” the resulting harvest.

The 340,000-signature benchmark represents 8% of the numbers of voters in the last gubernatorial election, the legal threshold to formally amend state law. If those are gathered and deemed acceptable, the amendments could be adopted by the Legislature — which is rather unlikely among Republicans — or make their way to the ballot to be decided by the public.

The proposal would also reduce the criminal possession penalties for all other controlled substances (including heroin and cocaine) by reducing currently imprisonable felony offenses to simple misdemeanors that are punishable by a ticket and a fine, regardless of the amount.

Petitions weren’t quite ready for signatures today. Williams encouraged those interested in supporting the effort to visit decrimnaturemi.org for more details on future sign-up locations. Decriminalize Nature Michigan is also collecting contributions to help cover organizing costs.

Click here to read a recent City Pulse cover story on the initiative.