City Of Oakland Urges California To Decriminalize Psychedelics And Allow Healing Ceremonies

The Oakland City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution that calls on California state lawmakers to enact policies decriminalizing a wide range of psychedelicsand allowing local jurisdictions to permit healing ceremonies where people could use entheogenic substances.

The vote is a product of activist-led efforts by the group Decriminalize Nature (DN), which has been pushing local legislators to expand upon the city’s current decriminalization policy that was enacted last year.

While the group introduced a measure in July to legalize healing ceremonies in Oaklandwhere people could lawfully use psychedelics, they’ve decided for now to pursue a push for state-level legislative action after a senator said that he plans to file a bill to decriminalize psychedelics across California when the legislature reconvenes in January.