The Democrat-controlled California state assembly passed a bill that will decriminalize psychedelic drugs for personal use.
“The measure cleared the lower house of the Democratic-controlled state legislature Wednesday, with 42 members voting yes, 13 opposed and 25 not voting. Five of the Assembly’s 13 Republican members joined their Democratic colleagues to vote for the bill,” noted the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
“A broader version of the bill previously passed the state senate. That chamber is expected to pass the final version by next week, sending the measure to Gov. Gavin Newsom,” it added.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has yet to publicly state his position on the matter. If he were to sign the bill, Californians over the age of 21 will be legally allowed to “ingest, possess, cultivate or transport small amounts of psychedelic drugs such as hallucinogenic mushrooms.”
The selling and distribution of such drugs will still remain illegal.
As Breitbart News reported, an article recently published this month in the journal Addiction found that the use of “magic” mushrooms by young adults has nearly doubled in three years along with other hallucinogenic drugs. Roughly 6.6 percent of young adults in 2021 (aged 19 to 30) used hallucinogenic drugs other than LSD, up from 3.4 percent in 2018. Psilocybin, a.k.a. “magic” mushrooms, stood chief among the hallucinogenic drugs used other than LSD. Roughly eight percent of young adults used some kind of hallucinogenic drug in 2021. Men experiment with such drugs at a higher rate than women. Per the Hill:
Public health officials face a growing societal disconnect over the risks and rewards of recreational drugs. Both marijuana and hallucinogens registered historic highs in young-adult use in 2021, according to federal data.
Therapeutic use of psychedelics remains rare. Most young adults who take hallucinogens are engaging in youthful experimentation, not unlike their baby-boomer forebears in the Woodstock era. And those experiments are not without risk.
Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said drug users should be worried about a “bad trip,” which can possibly result in suicide.
Megan Patrick, a study co-author and co-principal investigator of Monitoring the Future at the University of Michigan, said the increase in hallucinogenic drugs raises potential public health concerns.
“It’s really difficult to explain these trends,” she said. “We have some guesses, but we don’t really know yet.”
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
