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The Eureka City Council last night voted unanimously to decriminalize the personal use, possession and cultivation of entheogenic plants and fungi, such as psychedelic mushrooms, for people over the age of 21. 

The vote comes two years after the City of Arcata made the same move, following the lead of a handful of other cities across the county, including Denver, where, in 2019, voters narrowly approved a ballot initiative that prevented the city from spending resources to prosecute people for use or possession of “magic” shrooms. 

Not all government bodies are jumping aboard this trippy bandwagon, though. Eleven days ago, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have decriminalized adult use and possession of small amounts of mescaline, DMT and psilocybin statewide, starting in 2025. In doing so, Newsom called for more research to develop treatment guidelines prior to decriminalization.

Psilocybin capsules.

More than two dozen public commenters spoke at last night’s meeting, with every last one of them advocating approval of the resolution. They included educators, health care professionals, students and other residents, many of whom shared deeply personal stories about the transformative power of entheogenic plants in treating depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and other conditions.

The discussion began with some words of caution, though. Jacob Rosen, a mental health clinician and director of the city’s Crisis Alternative Response Eureka (CARE) program, argued that the resolution, which was prepared by the activist group Decriminalize Nature Humboldt, goes too far in endorsing psychoactive plants as consistently safe and healing.

That’s an example of “hyper-claiming” or making blanket assertions based on correlation rather than causation, Rosen said. He argued that while scientific research shows promise in entheogenic plants’ ability to prove useful in mental health treatment, the science is far from settled. More research is needed to determine which compounds act on the brain to cause healing effects and to identify contra-indications. And he said therapy is typically a necessary component of the plants’ efficacy.

“For many people with existing mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, these substances can actually trigger psychotic episodes that last longer than the intoxication of the substance,” Rosen said. “So there’s a lot of concern having the city rubber-stamp that … .”

Rosen also referred to research on MDMA, commonly called ecstasy or molly, though that synthetic drug was not among the entheogens considered in the resolution, as several public speakers subsequently pointed out.

Eureka Police Commander Lenny La France, who leads the department’s Community Safety Engagement Team, said he and the chief agreed with Gov. Newsom’s decision to veto Senate Bill 58 due to concerns about “unintended consequences.”

However, City Manager Miles Slattery said he had consulted with members of the Arcata Police Department, who reported no significant issues since the city decriminalized entheogenic plants, and he said the City of Eureka only saw five cases last year involving criminal charges related to entheogens — shrooms, primarily — and all five involved more serious charges, such as domestic violence.

The enthusiasm among public commenters was resounding. Roy King, an emeritus associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stanford, pushed back on Rosen’s words of caution, saying that randomized, controlled studies have shown entheogenic plants’ effectiveness in treating depression and anxiety disorder.

“They work specifically on serotonin receptors,” King said. “They increase neurogenesis … and allow people to get out of their loopy thoughts and negative thinking.”

Rachael Riggs, a local educator, noted the county’s elevated rate of Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, which are linked to chronic health problems and substance abuse later in life, and she said these plants can help. 

“Entheogens are anti-addictive [and are] among the safest substances being studied in the treatment of addiction and mental health problems,” Riggs said. “There are very few side effects, especially when under the guidance of a therapist or with proper education.” She argued that the positive “trickle down effect” on the community’s children could be huge.

Dr. Carrie Griffin, who specializes in family and addiction medicine, said there have been three scientific studies looking for evidence that entheogenic plant use leads to greater rates of persistent depressive disorder or substance abuse, and the answer was an unequivocal “no.”

Griffen cofounded Eureka’s Center for New Growth, which offers ketamine-assisted therapy, with Randee Litten, a registered nurse who worked for years in the emergency room at St. Joseph Hospital. Litten said that she kind of lost her mind during the COVID pandemic and has seen a dramatic rise in psychosis locally. 

But working at the Center for New Growth has been life-altering, she said.

“What we genuinely need as human beings in this chaotic world is a helping hand, and psychedelics — from a nurse perspective, from a humanistic perspective, from my own perspective — psychedelics lend a hand that can hold you and guide you into a good direction, as long as you have the foundation built,” Litten said. “I know that’s the concern, but I can tell you that we’ve been doing it for a year and a half, and I can’t even tell you how many community members we have helped. And it’s the reason that I’m still here, because I love this community and I have never in my entire career felt like I am doing so much good for this community until we discovered how well psychedelics can help human beings. … I finally feel alive again, like we’re doing something good for our community.”

When the matter came back to the council for deliberation, Councilmember Renee Contreras-DeLoach said she’d spent a lot of time researching the issue and reading the hundreds of letters that were submitted in support of the resolution, and while she had some concerns with specific wording — especially endorsements of the plants’ ability to spur personal and spiritual growth — she concluded that it’s not the proper role of government to arrest and prosecute people over a plant.

Fellow Councilmember G. Mario Fernandez noted that the council had already approved a letter supporting the intent of Senate Bill 58, and he said the resolution would help to de-stigmatize the use of entheogenic plants for healing purposes.

“This isn’t a call to ‘turn on, tune in and drop out,’” Fernandez said, quoting 1960s countercultural icon Timothy Leary. “Instead it would be to allow for folks who do take these substances for healing to reach out to medical and mental health professionals — or law enforcement, if things go towards a more negative experience — without any fear of reprisal.”

Councilmember Kati Moulton said she shared some of Contreras-DeLoach’s concerns about certain phrases in the resolution that endorse the efficacy of entheogenic plants but supported it nonetheless.

With further input from Councilmember Leslie Castellano, the council agreed to remove a phrase endorsing such plants’ ‘capacity to “catalyze profound experiences of personal and spiritual growth.”

Councilmember Scott Bauer said he believes the potential for negative experiences is real, noting that he’s had friends who are “gone” from bad LSD trips. He also expressed concerns for use by kids, whose brains aren’t fully developed. But ultimately, he said, “I support something that’s been used for thousands of years to bring about personal growth.” 

Though she didn’t have a vote, Mayor Kim Bergel said that many local residents are suffering, and these plants represent “another tool for people to use to get the support that they need.”

The vote to approve the resolution — minus that one phrase — was unanimous, and according to Slattery its instructions went into effect immediately upon passage. You can read the full resolution via the link below.

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DOCUMENT: City of Eureka Resolution re: Entheogenic Plants and Fungi