San Francisco Bay Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Declarations:
a) No one should be in prison for using entheogenic healing plants.
b) No families should be separated solely for using entheogens.
c) Entheogens have been safely used for thousands of years for healing, spiritual and religious purposes.
d) Denver and Oakland have decriminalized entheogens, with Oakland unanimously passing the Oakland Community Healing Initiative to protect community ceremony and establish a task force to explore community-serving micro-economic opportunities.
e) Entheogens are much safer than caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol. E.g. A 2010 analysis of the harms associated with the war on drugs found psilocybin mushrooms to be the safest of all twenty drugs studied.
f) The FDA designated Psilocybin (the main component of “Magic Mushrooms”) as a Breakthrough Therapy for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder.
g) Research conducted by the Beckley Foundation has found Psilocybin Mushrooms to be a safe and effective treatment for severe and treatment-resistant depression, anxiety in terminally ill patients, and nicotine addiction.
With SB 519 we aim to support the People of California to:
a) Prevent the distribution of entheogens to minors, except in appropriate cases when they have been recommended by a physician or psychologist;
b) Prevent the profits from the sale of entheogens from going to criminal enterprises, gangs, and cartels;
c) Prevent driving while impaired by entheogens and other adverse public health consequences associated with entheogens;
d) Enact legislation allowing non-violent prisoners who were convicted of buying, selling, growing, manufacturing or possessing entheogens to have their sentences reviewed and criminal records expunged;
e) Ensure that local jurisdictions may not define as a nuisance, per se, any action or conduct authorized by this Act; rather, a showing of an actual nuisance shall be required;
f) Support the therapeutic and medical research of entheogens
The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce welcomes community feedback, encourages public discourse, and invites all to provide public comment. To have your voice heard, please contact the Hispanic Chamber.
