OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Olympia City Council unanimously approved a resolution to effectively decriminalize plant-based hallucinogens, such as psilocybin mushrooms.
The resolution, discussed during the regular Aug. 13 meeting, would make enforcement a low priority of police, with no city funds or resources being used for investigation, prosecution, or arrest of people possessing or using the psychedelics.
The resolution does not allow for the commercial manufacturing or sales of such plants or fungi.
Under current law, people who knowingly possess a controlled substance or use a controlled substance in public face a gross misdemeanor. A first conviction can lead to a sentence of up to 180 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. Two or more convictions can mean up to a year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
Someone found to be manufacturing or possessing with the intent to deliver can face five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
The resolution does not allow people to drive under the influence, permit the possession or distribution in schools; authorize commercial manufacturing or sales; permit conduct that puts public safety at risk or causes a public nuisance; or prohibit or discourage the investigation, arrest or prosecution of the aforementioned crimes.
In a memorandum from Police Chief Rich Allen to City Manager Jay Burney, Allen notes that the resolution does not prohibit police officers from addressing public safety due to the limitations on what is allowed.
The resolution focuses on mental health as a justification to decriminalize the psychedelics while pointing out the U.S. Food and Drug Administration held sanctioned trials that show "positive results that demonstrate the safety and efficacy of psilocybin assisted therapy."
According to the police department, in the last five years, no arrests or referrals to the prosecutor's office were made solely for possession of psilocybin.
There were five arrests where psilocybin was present, but not the cause:
- 2019 – Narcotics possession arrest – MDMA, Adderall and mushrooms
- 2020 – Subject arrested for warrant, located heroin, methamphetamine and mushrooms while searching the subject
- 2021 – Narcotics possession arrest – Xanax and mushrooms
- 2024 – Narcotics possession arrest – fentanyl, methamphetamine and mushrooms
- 2024 – DUI arrest – mushrooms were found while searching the subject. It is unknown if the mushrooms added to the impairment. The subject registered over the legal limit for alcohol during the breathalyzer test, so no further testing was conducted.
Prior to the resolution's approval, Mayor Dontae Payne reiterated this, calling the resolution more of a "formality."