psychedelics

Washington state lawmakers still can’t pass bills to allow for some legal access to psychedelics. With Feb. 21 as the cutoff for bills to move out of policy committees, two pieces of legislation that would have allowed regulated and supervised access to psilocybin for adults won't be moving forward — Senate Bill 5201 and House Bill 1433. The bills faced opposition from state psychiatric and medical groups, as well as advocates for psychedelics.

Tacoma has joined a number of Washington cities and at least one county in a growing movement to make enforcing activities related to the use of psychoactive substances, such as psilocybin mushrooms, a lower priority for law enforcement.On Tuesday, the Tacoma City Council unanimously passed a resolution to lower enforcement priorities for entheogen-related activities. Entheogen has become the preferred term for chemicals that are psychoactive drugs. These have impacts on people’s consciousness, according to Science Direct.

Drugs like molly and ecstasy may be best known for giving partyers euphoric feelings. But MDMA, the drugs' psychoactive ingredient, is proving effective at treating severe trauma when used in therapy.

Author Michael Pollan, who experimented with mushrooms, LSD and other psychedelics while researching his latest book, says: "I had an experience that was by turns frightening and ecstatic and weird."