Canadian Group, Decriminalize Nature Canada, is Gaining Traction to Decriminalize Psychoactive Substances.

Its April 16, 2020 and Petition (e-2534) has gone live. Its only been 12 hours and the Petition to decriminalize psychoactive plants, backed by the group Decriminalize Nature Canada, has been signed by over 500 supporters. Originally started by the psychedelic practitioner Trevor Millar, the petition takes a ground-breaking stance on psychedelic reform and law.

For far too long psychedelic users, especially the indigenous cultures who use psychedelic plants culturally, have been scrutinized under the eyes of the law for their use despite credited organizations such as the FDA approving psilocybin as a “Breakthrough Therapy” treatment. Petition (e-2534) has officially been presented to Canada's House of Commons by the Green Party's own MP Paul Manly. Manly strongly agrees with the deconstruction of marginalization for indigenous people. He believes that taking away their right to access natural psychedelics is no different than the stripping away of cultural societies taken place in the early colonization of North America. E-2534 calls for the discontinuation of law enforcement on adult-use or possession of psychedelic plants and fungi. The petition also wants the Charter to guarantee that the consumption and possession of psychedelic plants and fungi will be protected under the freedom of religious belief and peaceful assembly. The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and the Food and Drug Act must also change their policies to extinguishing listing psychedelic plants as harmful when used for therapy, spiritual development, or religion. Of course, the petition is not calling for reckless psychedelic mayhem. Manly believes that if any legalization were to be put into law, adults must take caution and act responsibly when consuming these psychointegrators. Decriminalize Nature Canada has taken a hold of support within petition E-2534. One of their main beliefs is that plant medicines are in desperate need of legalization because of the current opioid and overdose crisis taking place in Canada, and essentially the entire continent of North America due to the fact that the United States suffering from an opioid crisis as well. MP Paul Manly agrees with this as well, stating that he believes psychedelics can be a safer alternative to getting off of opiates rather than the practice generally used today. Not only can psychedelics help the opiate crisis, but it can also help the mental health crisis occurring as well. Petition E-2534 has also gained a notable cosign from ethnopharmacologist Dennis McKenna.

Notable Details of the Petition Are as follows,

Petition E-2534 States whereas:

• The use of sacramental and medicinal plants, comprising of plants and fungi, with healing and therapeutic properties, dates to prehistory, and such practices are culturally and socially significant to multitudes of diverse populations globally;

• Sacramental and medicinal plants are recognized by the United Nations under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971, whereby traditional uses of plants that contain listed psychoactive ingredients are exempt in cultural and social circumstances;

• There is mounting peer-reviewed evidence that these traditional remedies support recovery from addiction, and mitigate mental health suffering while having minimal toxicity when used responsibly and in accordance with best practices; and

• In the midst of an overdose crisis, accompanied by the causes of trauma, anxiety and depression, a wider range of treatment modalities, including those informed by ancient and indigenous knowledge, are urgently needed.

  We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to:

  1. Immediately discontinue enforcement of statutes or regulations that prohibit or impose onerous restrictions on informed adult use, growing, or sharing of any plant or fungi, where an established record of traditional use exists;

  2. Affirm these practices are protected by the Charter guarantees of liberty and justice, as well as freedom of belief, religion, expression, and peaceful assembly, and extend the cultural and social exemptions afforded under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971 to Canada; and

  3. Amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Food and Drug Act and regulations to distinguish and exempt these organisms when used for therapeutic practices, as adjuncts to medical care, for healing ceremonies or solitary spiritual growth and self-development.

The goal of the petition had been set at 500,000 and closed for signing on August 14, 2020. Similar petitions had taken place in Canada's neighbor, the United States with a recent decriminalization effort passing in Ann Arbor Michigan. Currently, at the moment in Canada, only mushroom spore kits are legal because they do not contain the active psychedelic compounds in them. As the years go on more and more countries are realizing that conventional medicine can and should not be the only possible medical treatment for mental and physical wellness. 

References: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-2534