by Maranda Vargas

The usage of psychedelics was decriminalized for the residents of Eureka. On Tuesday October 17, 2023, the Eureka City Council heard public comments and spoke with public officials before deciding on the measure to decriminalize the usage of entheogenic substances within city limits. The city council listened to impassioned community responses representing both sides of the issue.

The city council listened to a variety of community members that came out to share their personal and professional experiences working with entheogenic substances. The voices of mental health clinicians, family therapist, drug counselors and students were heard sharing their stories of support for the resolution to decriminalize entheogens. A few revisions were made to the resolution to omit specific wording before the unanimous vote passed in favor of the measure.

City Council member G. Mario Fernandez had questions for Sergeant LaFrance who was there on behalf of the Eureka police department. LaFrance had mentioned that the department had concerns the measure could leave a “gray area” for police enforcement. The resolution does not allow the sale of entheogens, they can only be gifted, grown or gathered.

Roy King emeritus Associate Professor of Psychiatry from Stanford University who has published over 100 papers on psychopharmacology and cross-cultural psychiatry spoke to the city council about research pertaining to psilocybin containing mushrooms specifically and their potential benefits.

“They increase neuronal growth in the brain, and they allow a person to get out of their loopy thoughts and negative thinking by changing the way the brain is wired,” said King. “So I would say that these medicines are much less addictive than THC and other medications and have low risk and have low abuse potential.”

The Department of Veterans affairs has advocated for the need to study the therapeutic usage of entheogens such as psilocybin containing mushrooms for the treatment of PTSD, depression and substance abuse disorders. The federal government acknowledged the potential benefits of psilocybin mushrooms in 2019 when they designated the naturally occurring substance as a “breakthrough therapy” for use against treatment-resistant depression.

A California state bill aimed to decriminalize entheogenic substances, plants and fungi was vetoed on Saturday Oct 7, by Governor Newsom. The bill SB58, was sponsored by Senator Scott Weiner and would have decriminalized the possession and use of a list of approved psychedelics for adults 21 years of age or older.

Eureka joins the list of cities where the usage and possession of entheogens have been decriminalized for residents. In Oct 2021, the city of Arcata decriminalized entheogens, adding it to the growing list of cities that are making the criminalization of using these substances the lowest police priority.

“It was a lot of good conversations on both sides, I think. And, you know, in the end, I think what we’ve got here is we’ve got a lot of people that are suffering,” said Bergal. “We have one more tool in our toolbox to support people. It isn’t going to work with everybody, probably not, you know, not everybody’s going to go that route. But just having a lot of opportunities for people to get the support that they need. I think it’s important.”

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