East Lansing’s City Council has rejected a proposal that would have told police to NOT to focus on penalizing people who use certain psychedelic drugs.
A majority of the council voted down the resolution this week.
It would have instructed officials to treat the use, growth, or distribution of Entheogenic plants as the “lowest law enforcement priority.”
That includes peyote, ayahuasca, and plants commonly known as magic mushrooms. Advocates told the council such plants have spiritual and religious significance and said they could be used for therapeutic purposes.
But the resolution itself would NOT have made them legal in East Lansing. As Mayor Ron Bacon note, the substances remain illegal at the state and federal level.
“I don’t like doing performative things that leave people in jeopardy.”
A group called the Michigan Initiative for Community Healing has been gathering signatures in an attempt to bring a proposal to the November ballot. If approved by voters, that measure would reduce criminal penalties for using and possessing psychedelic plants across Michigan.