again: i don't exactly want to say that denver made the right choice in rejecting the decriminalization. smoking mushrooms is not unheard of, but you usually eat them, so it's hard to come up with a context where simple use would be infringing on the rights of anybody else. this is in contrast to marijuana or tobacco, where you have to infringe upon the rights of the people around you in order to use it.

it's consequently easy to make the free market or right-libertarian argument that you hear from "real capitalists", namely that the state doesn't have the right to tell you what to do with your own body. and, as mentioned, i don't actually disagree, really. i don't think i would vote for it, but i wouldn't have any active opposition to decriminalization, either; if i were in denver, i'd just be sitting this one out. i would probably abstain from a vote. nor would i see the need to push for the kind of bylaws that i would support around marijuana use, to keep it out of residential neighbourhoods and stop it from becoming a nuisance for non-users. unlike marijuana use, you can really have a trip in your basement without bothering anybody, it is true.

but, a left-wing perspective needs to consider the picture more holistically and look at the broader health implications, and i will reiterate the following truths:

1) adults don't do mushrooms; they're a drug that is almost entirely for kids. i mean, i'm sure you can point me to some 29 year-old that does mushrooms, but an analysis of their life isn't going to produce a flattering profile for a potential user base. adult mushroom users are going to be losers, through and through.

2) it follows that you're proposing decriminalizing something with a very small potential adult legal market that is going to be largely full of undesirables and a much larger potential underage market. if you're going to legalize mushrooms with an attempt to control a market, you're not going to get anywhere unless you put the legal age somewhere around 14, as that is really the target usage age, about 12-19. you're going to see use fall off dramatically after that - and that's a good thing. you don't want adults using mushrooms. i'd rather have my kids do mushrooms than meth, granted. but, is making it easier for kids to get the stuff really what you want?

3) the idea that psilocybin has some kind of clinical benefit is a marketing lie being pushed to you by capitalism, not an actual scientific reality. mushrooms make you crazy. if you want to mess with your hormone levels, there are ways to do it without stimulating schizophrenia; any potential benefits, however controversial, could be arrived at with a far less dangerous delivery mechanism. further, the term "spiritual" should obviously be outright banned from any scientific or medical discussion around anything - these claims are not worthy of serious scrutiny. "microdosing" is pseudoscience through and through.

4) there are real dangers not just from overuse but from a bad trip. mushroom use is currently marginal; it's not something very many people do. you shouldn't confuse the fact that use is marginal with a misperception that there aren't consequences from it. i mean, how many people are hospitalized for drinking bleach? does that mean drinking bleach is safe, or that almost nobody drinks bleach?

and, you just have to ask somebody that's used the drug to understand that you need to approach it with caution. you're not going to find anybody walking around saying "mushrooms are harmless", like you do with these ignorant hippies around marijuana. even the advocates know you have to be careful.

so, it's more like that decriminalization would be pointless - this is neither a drug that is currently used by many people nor a drug that has the potential to develop widespread use among adults. it's just going to open up the market for kids. but, if there was potential for widespread use, or if widespread use ever became a reality, the inevitable consequences would be widespread problems with mental health as a result of it.

opiates were supposed to have clinical benefits, too. that's how we ended up with an opiate crisis....

but, i mean, the snake oil industry doesn't care, right? the big pharmaceutical companies aren't concerned about your well-being. if they think they can profit, they will. they don't care if it kills you or not...