Denver becomes 1st U.S. city to decriminalize magic mushrooms
Denver's Initiative 301, which effectively decriminalizes psychedelic mushrooms, narrowly passed with 50.6 percent of the vote.
Denver is the first city in the United States to approve such a measure. The unofficial results, posted Wednesday afternoon, came as a surprise, as early results on Tuesday night made it appear the initiative would fail. The current tally is 89,320 votes in favor of the measure and 87,341 against, a difference of just 1,979 votes.
Under the measure, city code will be rewritten so that police officers make enforcing laws for possession their lowest priority. It will still be illegal to purchase, sell, or possess psychedelic mushrooms. Supporters of the measure touted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision last fall to give psilocybin "breakthrough therapy" designation, meaning it has potential to help people with treatment-resistant depression, The Denver Post reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Is the American era officially over?Talking Points Trump’s trade wars and Greenland push are alienating old allies
-
Political cartoons for January 26Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include an ICE storm, the TikTok takeover, and Iranian-style reform
-
Winter storm lashes much of US South, East CoastSpeed Read The storm spread across 2,000 miles of the country
-
‘One Battle After Another’ wins Critics Choice honorsSpeed Read Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, won best picture at the 31st Critics Choice Awards
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
