Denver Becomes First US City To Decriminalize Psychedelic Mushrooms

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reason: In a surprise turn of events, a Denver ballot initiative to effectively decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms, previously thought to have failed, now appears to have narrowly passed after all. This would make the Mile High City the first in the U.S. to decriminalize psilocybin. If the unofficial final tally holds, Denver law enforcement will be directed to treat psychedelic mushrooms owned for personal possession as the lowest enforcement priority. The initiative will not legalize commercial sales. 'After trailing in results postings Tuesday night and early Wednesday, final unofficial results just posted show a reversal of fortune -- with Initiative 301 set to pass with nearly 50.6 percent of the vote,' The Denver Post reports. 'The total stands at 89,320 votes in favor and 87,341 against -- a margin of 1,979 votes. Denver Elections expects to continue accepting military and overseas ballots, but typically those numbers are small.' Reason's Jacob Sullem points out that this decriminalization will have only a modest real-world impact, as Denver has only prosecuted a handful of psilocybin cases over the past few years.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.