Understanding Initiative 81:

The Entheogenic Plants and Fungus Measure

 

Background

Washington, D.C., Initiative 81, also known as the Entheogenic Plants and Fungus Measure, was presented to voters in Washington, D.C., as an initiative on November 3, 2020, and was subsequently approved. To explore the full initiative, you can read it [here/link to full initiative].

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Purpose of Initiative 81

The central aim of Initiative 81 was to declare that non-commercial cultivation, distribution, possession, and use of entheogenic plants and fungi should be treated as the lowest law enforcement priorities. The initiative defines entheogenic plants and fungi as species that contain ibogaine, dimethyltryptamine, mescaline, psilocybin, or psilocin. This includes, for example, psilocybin mushrooms (also known as magic mushrooms or shrooms), peyote, and iboga. The initiative additionally urged the D.C. Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for D.C. to halt the prosecution of residents engaged with these entheogenic plants and fungi.

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Understanding Entheogens

The term "entheogenic plants and fungi" used in Initiative 81 was proposed in 1979 by a group of academics to describe states of shamanic and ecstatic possession induced by mind-altering drugs. The term "entheogens" is applied to those drugs, both natural and artificial, that induce alterations of consciousness similar to those documented for ritual ingestion of traditional entheogens.

 

Decriminalization of Psilocybin

As of 2020, Denver, Colorado; Oakland, California; Santa Cruz, California; and Ann Arbor, Michigan, are among the local governments that had passed laws decriminalizing psilocybin or altering law enforcement priorities concerning it.

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Implementation of the Act

The “Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020,” also known as Law 23-268, was introduced in the Council and assigned Bill No. 23-1033. After the Council's first and second readings and a mayoral review, it was assigned Act No. 23-613 on Dec. 2, 2020, and transmitted to Congress for review. D.C. Law 23-268 became effective on March 16, 2021.