Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/05/08/denver-voters-decriminalize-ma.html
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“Sunnies” and “Sadsters”?
Denver is going to get weird. Like Teletubby weird.
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We will take progress any way we can get it! It’s not easy to throw off the oppressive yoke of profit and control!. B/c those who proffi and control do not love us --they only love themselves, and do not understand that we are all in this together, as a group – not as individuals. We do not survive alone. We need each other.
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Those same voters also chose to maintain the criminalization of homelessness by a margin of about 100,000 votes. Sunnies, indeed.
ETA: Oh yeah, I hadn’t seen the updated results, either. It was actually a margin of 111,964 votes.
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Tasting the color purple is probably still better than saying he who shall not be named, name.
What, nobody told me they were illegal. Guess I have that going for me.
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Same city, different voters. Young people and open minds voted for mushrooms, but Denver’s more diverse than that! Frankly, Initiative 301 (boomers) got far less media attention than 300 (Right to Survive). This probably helped it pass. Fearmongering gained no momentum, as it did with 300. Needles! Poop! My property value! Look at Seattle! No such cries arose against 301.
The money spent by “Together Denver” opposing 300 dwarfed that of any candidate or issue locally. Their shibboleth “We Can Do Better” was repeated endlessly by supporters and yard signs, allowing gentrified NIMBYs to justify their lack of concern for others. Good establishment figures of both parties and the Post reasonably concurred. The opposition to 301 barely made a peep. They are now calling for an investigation into vote tampering. Good luck with that!
300 was not perfect–it didn’t truly repeal the camping ban, but directed the city council/mayor (who passed said ban) to work on changing the laws (as if). The wide margin is disappointing, though.
So… It’s not as clear cut as it sounds. You can still be arrested for carrying caps into Red Rocks, but the city isn’t supposed to spend a dime on prosecuting you. My guess is that not much will change in the short term on either issue, but security at Red Rocks, the Ogden, and Fillmore will see a few more puddled kids on the floor. Those kids aside, I think it’s a step forward.
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Denver now devolves into a live “Where the Buffalo Roam” comic…
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Except that, sadly, a “bad” concert at Red Rocks can already end up with 15 kids in our ER, some not breathing, others just naked and screaming. And that’s just the ones that make it out of the RR medical tent bc they are too f’d up to go home from there and need the ER…
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Psilocybin has shown some very promising potential in treating PTSD and depression, and it’s infinitely less addictive than ketamine. I’d be happy to see it start on the medical track.
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Hmm. I may be misreading something, but nearly identical numbers of total voters were recorded for Mayor (177,975), 300 (179,334) & 301 (176,661). There isn’t enough in the spread to cover any demographic assumptions.
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Psilocybin should certainly be legalized, but between the recent ultra-highly-publicized psilocybin studies and the other recent ultra-highly-publicized ketamine studies, I’m wondering to what degree the pharmaceutical industry is behind the new momentum in relation to psychedelics.
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As a Clusterhead, I approve any progress forward with this.
http://www.clusterheadaches.com/
https://erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms_medical1.shtml
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I am not opposed to decriminalization, nor opposed to use, but it’s got to be wise use, which is something hard to regulate.
From everything I have witnessed over the years, taking too many mushrooms is a guaranteed bad trip. And an extremely emotional bad trip at that.
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Yeah, that’s the tricky part of all of this. It’s better than locking people up and ruining lives, but there needs to be guidelines regarding responsible use.
I’d hope that it would be no different than someone publicly abusing booze, weed, smokes, texting, cheeseburgers, etc etc.
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Yeah, my nursing students were pretty against it when I brought it up in class. Many didn’t know it was an election day, let alone that we were legalizing mushrooms, but many of them have CNA or EMT experience and were against it on the basis of seeing some bad outcomes.
I do think health care workers see the small percentage of terrifying outcomes, and it tends to bias them in terms of legalization of substances. I’m an anatomist, not a clinician, so I like to think I see the big picture but I understand health care workers concerns too.
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Moderation in all things. That is the key be it shroom, weed or alcohol. When Marijuana was legalized numerous people asked me if things were different now. “I’d be afraid to drive” was stated. I never noticed any change other than occasionally smelling it. As for shrooms, I don’t care what you do to yourself as long as it doesn’t have a negative impact on others. And frankly, I’d rather eat something that was grown naturally to handle depression or any other ailment than take a pill that was made in a lab.
