Denver Becomes First City in the U.S. to Vote in Favor of Decriminalizing Psilocybin Mushrooms

May 22, 2019

On Tuesday, May 7, 2019 when Initiative 301 passed, Denver became the first city in the U.S. to vote in favor of decriminalizing psilocybin mushrooms.

Initiative 301 directs law enforcement agencies in Denver to treat psilocybin mushrooms as their lowest priority. It also prohibits the use of city money or resources to enforce criminal penalties for people caught with these mushrooms. “It’s self-executing. The city doesn’t have to do anything except appoint a review panel,” said Josh Kappel, a partner with Vicente Sederberg LLC and a supporter of Initiative 301, to Denver 7.

“Vicente Sederberg was proud to assist the initiative proponents in drafting a measure that can mitigate the harms being caused by current state laws that treat psilocybin possession as a felony offense,” said Josh Kappel to Westword. “This forward-thinking measure has started a much-needed conversation about psilocybin, its therapeutic potential and how it should be treated in our city and in our society.”

Read more about Initiative 301 in this article from Westword and this article from Denver 7.