Denver on Shrooms: It's Been a Trip!

Way back in the spring of 2019, Denver became the first American city in the country to decriminalize psilocybin, or magic mushrooms, with 50.56% of voters in favor. That left many Denverites worried about where decriminalization could lead — like Jeff Hunt, who said this to CBS4: “What I’m afraid we’re going to see happen now is people go, ‘Denver is a place where I’m not going to get prosecuted, so we’re going to increase the use of these drugs.’” Well, Jeff, the first batch of numbers are in! Today on the show, host Bree Davies sits down with Kevin Matthews, the former West Point cadet who led the decriminalization campaign. He’s been working with the city to monitor the situation and last week he presented a report and some interesting recommendations for next steps to City Council. 

To see Matthews’ whole presentation to City Council last week, click here: http://denver.granicus.com/player/clip/14561?view_id=180&redirect=true

For more on the push toward legalization across the country, Matthews was quoted in this recent New York Times piece about veterans leading the charge: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/11/health/veterans-psychedelics-ptsd-depression.html?referringSource=articleShare

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