Calif. Might Vote on Psychedelic Mushroom Legalization in '18

A proposed ballot initiative could decriminalize the use of psychedelic mushrooms in California in 2018, the Los Angeles Times reported last week.

Kevin Saunders, the activist behind the initiative who said he kicked his heroin habit with the help of a mushroom trip, filed his measure with the Office of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra last Friday. If passed, the measure would exempt adults over the age of 21 from a state law that criminalizes mushrooms containing psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychoactive or "magic" mushrooms.

"There is a cultural fascination with mushrooms that goes really deep,” said Saunders. “The soccer moms are all pretty much, for lack of a better term, high now, and some of them are taking mushrooms."

"It’s a natural progression from marijuana legalization," he added. "I think that we are having an opportunity to lead the discussion."

California legalized recreational marijuana last November. Both marijuana and psilocybin are considered a Schedule I drug by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

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