SHROOMS ARE ON THE D.C. BALLOT.

• Author: Dunat, Max
• Position: DRUGS

RESIDENTS OF WASHINGTON, D.C., will have a chance to vote for the decriminalization of certain psychedelic drugs this November. The reformers who canvassed for signatures for the initiative say they're optimistic it will pass despite objections from Congress, which controls D.C. spending.

In August, the D.C. Board of Elections certified that Decriminalize Nature D.C. had collected enough legitimate signatures to add Initiative 81 to the ballot. The Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020 would "make investigation and arrest of adults for... engaging in practices with entheogenic plants and fungi among the lowest law enforcement priorities for the District of Columbia," according to the proposal. The law would not reduce penalties, but it does encourage D.C.'s attorney general and U.S. attorney to drop prosecutions for "non-commercial planting, non-commercial cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing" or possessing magic mushrooms, mescaline, and other natural psychedelics.

"D.C. voters are really well-educated and well-read," says Decriminalize Nature D.C. campaign manager Melissa Lavasani. "If we do our job right in the educational component of this campaign, we can have a resounding yes."

But the group's biggest challenge may not be convincing voters. Just days after activists submitted their collected signatures to the D.C. Board of Elections, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) announced he would leverage congressional control over D.C.'s finances to bar the use of public funds for Initiative 81's enforcement.

"Public health has...