
Decriminalize Psychedelic Plants and Fungi in San Francisco - dsernst
http://decrimsf.org
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robbrown451
There are some drugs about which good arguments can be made on both sides of
the legality issue. Highly addictive ones do indeed ruin lives, and while
there is an argument that that should be the person's choice, the other side
can argue that the government is there to better the common good, and that can
include protecting people from their own bad decisions. I have mixed feelings
about the legality issue when it comes to cocaine, meth, heroin, prescription
opioids, etc.

With psilocybin mushrooms, though, I can't imagine any reasonable argument
that people need to be protected from themselves. They aren't addictive by any
definition of addiction I know of. And they can do some amazingly positive
things, especially for those who are facing death due to illness or just old
age. I would go so far as to say it is tragic that such people are denied
relief from the horrible feeling of impending death that mushrooms can
provide.

Not that I am against people just doing them for kicks, either.

~~~
pstuart
Please bear in mind that the origins of drug prohibition had little to do with
"protecting" people, and were instead instruments of oppression.

Drug abuse a health problem, not a criminal problem. We spend orders of
magnitude on the criminal side and, guess what? It only makes things worse.

Legalize. Regulate. Tax.

It's very simple, and is the only correct answer.

~~~
robbrown451
Maybe. I think it's unfortunate that people who are saying their answer is
"the only correct" one are probably going to slow down progress.

Laws aren't always about crimes, by the way. Not wearing seatbelts or
motorcycle helmets shouldn't be seen as a criminal problem, but we still have
laws about it. Maybe you disagree with those laws, and that's fine.

I think it is less fine to say that your perspective on the issue is the only
one that can be reasonably seen as valid.

~~~
pstuart
Please don't confuse my adamance in defining the problem as an applied
ideology in the real world. I'm pretty damn pragmatic and don't play purity
politics.

I'm sticking with my statement, because it's true. I welcome reasonable
refutations to it.

You overlooked the word "regulate". That means laws, but applied towards
health and safety of products sold, rather than punishing the consumer.

We still need DUI laws (and related), but otherwise it's a personal choice all
the way down.

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oarabbus_
The DEA Scheduling system is not fact-based and needs to be completely redone.
In fact, the categorizations are provably false e.g. PCP is schedule II,
Cocaine is schedule III, Xanax is Schedule IV etc, while Marijuana and
Psilocybin (mushrooms) are Schedule I.

Yes that's right, according to the federal government, marijuana and mushrooms
are more harmful, more addictive, and have less medical use than PCP, Cocaine,
or Xanax.

~~~
arcticbull
PCP was a general anesthetic, cocaine is still a local anesthetic used
humorously enough for rhinoplasty [1] (and eye surgery if I’m not mistaken)
and Xanax is an antidepressant so by that strict measure there’s some logic.

With that in mind it’s a completely asinine system and should be thrown out.
It’s such an utter waste of time when Portugal’s policy of decriminalizing
everything a decade and a half ago showed massive public benefit and no
increase in drug use. [2]

Nothing about the war on drugs is “fact based.” This whole conversation is
about re-shuffling the deck chairs when we should be getting off the Titanic.

[1]
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/9935273/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/9935273/)

[2] [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/05/portugals-
radic...](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/05/portugals-radical-
drugs-policy-is-working-why-hasnt-the-world-copied-it)

~~~
0x8BADF00D
Xanax is not an antidepressant, it is a sedative-hypnotic.

~~~
loeg
Ostensibly, it's foremost an anxiolytic.

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kisna72
Can't help but wonder what the unintended consequences of decriminalizing
psychedelic plants would be in society? I'm thinking this might create a new
market for Shamans (therapists ?) that guide you through psychedelic uses!
What else?

~~~
hellofunk
They are decriminalized in other parts of the world, including places like the
Netherlands, and you wouldn’t know it.

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journalctl
Amazing how psychedelics might be legalized before housing in San Francisco.

~~~
robbrown451
Housing is far more complicated, obviously. To claim it isn't "legalized" is
using a very weird definition of the word.

Luckily, the city of San Francisco can work on multiple problems at once. They
don't feel the need to wait for the homeless problem to be solved before they
fix a pothole on the street or apply a fresh coat of paint to a piece of
playground equipment.

This is a simple issue that can improve lives. Sometimes in dramatic ways,
such as for the terminally ill. And it can be changed without a lot of money
or effort being spent.

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averros
Why stop at plants? If someone chooses to take whatever substance it's no one
else's business (unless others have to pay for the medical treatment
afterwards... but that is easily solved by NOT making others pay). The
actually dangerous drugs - the ones (SSRIs, notably) which have suicide as a
side effect, sometimes resulting in people going on murderous rampages - are
quite legal and widely prescribed. Go figure.

~~~
sokoloff
_How_ do you stop paying for medical outcomes? And _why_ should we care?

As part of insurance pools, today I pay for extreme sports injuries, alcohol
and tobacco related chronic problems, outright stupidity, and obesity related
issues.

No one seems to balk at that; why should THC or magic mushrooms be
fundamentally different? Even if they “should” be, how _could_ they be?

~~~
i_am_nomad
I agree with you in the sense that refined sugar in processed foods should be
highly regulated, as society pays an enormous cost for it.

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undersuit
I had to vouch averros and I can't reply to him, great. Decriminalize all
drugs.

Cheese + SSRI:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin_syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin_syndrome)

Grapefruit + SSRI:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit%E2%80%93drug_intera...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit%E2%80%93drug_interactions)

~~~
rincebrain
Are you thinking of cheese+MAOIs?

Because SSRIs aren't known for having that interaction with fermented products
at any dose I've seen.

~~~
undersuit
I am thinking of cheese and MAOIs. SSRIs are still extensively mentioned in
the wiki article on Serotonin syndrome.

