Multiple Cities Move to Decriminalize Psychedelic Mushrooms—Why It’s a Mistake

The headline article of the June 5, 2019 USA Today reads “Oakland in California Decriminalizes Magic Mushrooms and Peyote.” The May 8, 2019 Denver Post headlined with “Denver First in U.S. to Decriminalize Psychedelic Mushrooms.” That’s two major cities to recently legalize certain psychedelic drugs which have been illegal for decades. This is despite the fact they’ve been banned for good reasons.

The political spectrum is shifting towards this enthusiasm for legalization, but it is not based in scientific fact or even enough empirical evidence to justify such legalization. That is just one argument for why we should not legalize drugs, and why it’s harmful to do so in general, especially when we don’t know that much about them.

It’s no coincidence that the strides towards the legalization of psychedelics fit right into the footsteps left by recent efforts to legalize marijuana. It seems that our country is edging closer to drug legalization being more broadly accepted. But we know how harmful drugs are, so why is this new wave of legalization expanding the potentially harmful effects of an ever increasing cornucopia of substances.

Even Traditional Proponents of Legalization Are Turning Their Backs on the Prospect

Michael Pollan, the author of “How to Change Your Mind,” is usually a proponent for the use of psychedelics for strictly medicinal reasons. However, in light of the increasing incidences of legalization of psilocybin, Pollan recently came forward as a bold voice in anti-legalization.

This instance of Pollan coming forward on the faults of psychedelics should garner some serious attention. Any time an expert on a substance comes forward and strongly cautions us against getting involved with that substance, wouldn’t it make sense to heed that caution?

A fitting analogy would be if an ex-smoker who was diagnosed with lung cancer caused by years of tobacco use came forward and cautioned people against using tobacco. We’d listen to him. In fact, a lot of people are turned off of the idea of consuming tobacco because of their own personal experience of witnessing someone else’s physical health decline as a result of tobacco use. If an expert on the subject is already saying not to legalize, we might want to put the brakes on further legalization efforts.

Something is very wrong with a system that approves a drug to be legal simply because political and public fervor demand it. If we think about it logically, just the idea of legalizing psychedelics, (mind-altering and potentially dangerous drugs), the foolishness in ideas of legalization become more clear.

Rushed, premature ballot initiatives are not the way that we should decide if something should be legal or not. The way to determine if something should be legal or not is through rigorous scientific testing of the substance and debate over the moral, ethical, and societal implications of the use of that substance. If we took that sensible approach with psychedelics, we’d realize the risks involved with these substances and the general populace would understand why we should not legalize them.

What Happens When We Legalize

Whenever I hear about a new group, state, or city that is trying to legalize a drug, I am reminded of Nora Volkow’s viewpoint on the matter. Nora Volkow is the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She has talked about this subject on several occasions, the most recent being in a filmed interview with USA Today. In that interview, she is asked for her thoughts on marijuana legalization.

Her response is pure logic. She points to the two most lethal drugs in America—alcohol, and tobacco. She points out that these substances are perfectly legal and very easy to get. She explains that if we legalize drugs for political reasons or public demand without performing the necessary research on them, we will create a situation where more people will use potentially harmful substances. Use of a substance will go up if it becomes legal. We already know that psilocybin and marijuana have adverse effects. If they are legalized, they will be used more, and those harmful effects will become more commonplace.

Furthermore, if psychedelic drugs are the next substance on the pro-legalization docket, what will follow after that? Amphetamines? Crystal meth? Cocaine? Heroin? By allowing the legalization of one or two substances, we are setting a precedent for legalization of everything.

What Kind of Society Are We Trying to Create?

We need to take a look at what kind of society we are trying to create. The question becomes one of morality, ethics, and societal standards. I’ve heard all of the arguments for legalization. I get it. Yes, “Other countries have done it with little harmful effects.” Tell me something I don’t know. Other countries have also legalized alcohol with minimal harmful effects, all while the United States drinks itself into misery. We have a terrible alcohol problem by casual examination of NIAAA data alone.

Just because other countries have legalized some drugs and have not suffered too tremendously is not logical rhetoric for why we should also legalize (and as a side note, I would question whether or not those countries really did legalize without suffering “too tremendously”). Just because some people want to use a drug is not reasonable rhetoric for legalizing it. We need to remind ourselves of the principles and morals that we want to live by, i.e., an addiction-free lifestyle, drug-free families, cities free of drug-related accidents and injuries, no drug overdose deaths, schools full of bright, sober adolescents, and so on.

We’ve seen what drug use does to people. We’ve seen how harmful both illegal and legal drugs can be. We need to commit to a sober and drug-free nation. When people do fall on hard times with an addiction to drugs and alcohol we need to help them with addiction treatment. But we should not willingly invite such circumstances of addiction upon our society, and that is exactly what would happen if we legalized drugs.

Sources:

• https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/06/05/oakland-california-legalizes-magic-mushrooms-and-peyote/1347888001/
• https://www.denverpost.com/2019/05/08/denver-psychedelic-magic-mushroom/
• https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/03/20/weed-marijuana-cannabis-opioid-addiction-withdrawal-nida-nora-volkow/3221792002/
• https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics

Reviewed and Edited by Claire Pinelli, ICAADC, CCS, LADC, RAS, MCAP