DC Psychedelics Campaign Gets Boost From Denver Psilocybin Activists As Signature Deadline Looms

With less than a week left before a signature turn-in deadline, the Washington, D.C. campaign behind an initiative to decriminalize psychedelics is in full force, with activists from across the country—including those from the successful Denver psilocybin decriminalization campaign—flying to the nation’s capital to lend a hand for the final push.

Despite setbacks from the coronavirus pandemic, reform advocates proved innovative and secured several victories from the local Board of Elections and District Council that allowed them to continue gathering signatures via mail and by scanning and printing signed petitions that were emailed to the campaign. They also saw a boost after mass protests enabled them to collect thousands of signatures in-person.

But they’re running against the clock. The group has until July 6 to submit 24,794 valid signatures from registered District of Columbia voters to qualify for the November ballot. They’re past the halfway point with about 16,000 collected and verified so far—meaning they have until Monday to get about 10,000 more.

It’s a hefty task, but the campaign is unique in that activists from states across the U.S. have joined in to lend their support and expertise.

Members of the team behind the psilocybin decriminalization initiative that Denver voters approved last year, individuals from Oregon who recently announced they have enough signatures to place a therapeutic psilocybin legalization measure on the state ballot and some from the team behind an effort to legalize psilocybin in California have all joined the D.C. campaign to gather signatures over the next few days.

“I know on the numbers side we probably would want to be way further ahead, but honestly the cavalry has come out in the decrim world and they’re all in D.C.,” Melissa Lavasani, the chief petitioner behind the initiative, told Marijuana Moment. “It’s an exciting energy right now and I really feel like we can do this.”

“It’s the spirit of the movement” that’s enabled the campaign to push past obstacles, she said. “We refuse to give up and we all acknowledge that we were in a mental health crisis before this pandemic hit and there’s people who have never dealt with any kind of mental health issues that are dealing with it now because of this pandemic and they’re under crazy amounts of stress.”

“We’re all under so much pressure, that we think that this is just a really appropriate time to be passing something like this,” she said. “A lot of us are going to need to have some real healing after this pandemic passes.”

Kevin Matthews, who ran the Denver campaign and is the head of the national psychedelics advocacy group SPORE, told Marijuana Moment that the members who flew out to D.C. are skilled canvassers who have the backgrounds to push the local campaign forward in this final stage.

“These are folks who know how to canvass for signatures and know how to talk to people and are very comfortable with approaching strangers and just chatting about any cause,” he said. “Then adding one more layer of, you know, this cause for decriminalizing entheogens, which we’re all passionate about, that makes it that much more exciting for us to come out.”

There is one complication that the D.C. campaign is hoping to resolve: the elections board told them that they won’t be accepting signed petitions that are received after the deadline even if they were postmarked prior to July 6. Because of that—and delays in the postal system—the group is encouraging people to take photos or scan their petitions and email them so that they can print and resize them for submission.

So @Vote4DC won’t accept #I81 petitions after July 6th from people who mailed before deadline. Not fair! When for election @Vote4DC accepts after the deadline if delayed by mail. @CMCharlesAllen We for asked for relief today and were told no way by DCBOE cc @MelissaMNDC

— 🔥Adam Eidinger 🌊 (@aeidinger) June 29, 2020

The recent boost in canvassers is partly the result of the campaign’s decision to increase the pay per valid signature to $10. Also, the soap company Dr. Bronner’s, which has funded several psychedelics reform campaigns this year, is providing resources to fly in individuals from outside of D.C.

Get hired TODAY! Sign up for 11am training https://t.co/TnsRsWq9GCpic.twitter.com/tizfFZi9TV

— DecrimNatureDC (@DecrimNatureDC) June 30, 2020

“It’s a global movement. It’s a human movement. This is a movement for the people,” Matthews said. “We need this rally of support because it’s an opportunity for us to show this national energy behind this movement right now. It’s really going to send a very strong signal to the rest of the country—and of course we have Congress here as well.”

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Protests Drive DC Psychedelics Decriminalization Signatures As Activists Launch Major Mailer Campaign

Protests in the nation’s capital have helped drive about 5,000 new signatures for a local Washington, D.C. psychedelics decriminalization measure over the past week, organizers say. And now, activists are announcing on Tuesday that they are mailing petitions to every registered voter in the city as part of their campaign to place the initiative on the November ballot.

The proposal, I-81, would make enforcement of laws against various entheogenic substances such as psilocybin, ayahuasca and ibogaine among the city’s lowest law enforcement priorities. Decriminalize Nature D.C. (DNDC) has until July 6 to submit about 30,000 valid signatures from registered voters to qualify for the ballot.

Activists encountered a serious challenge when they had to suspend in-person signature gathering due to the coronavirus pandemic, but local lawmakers gave them a boost when the D.C. Council approved emergency legislation allowing for alternative collection methods. DNDC then launched a test, sending 10,000 petitions to residents across the city and asking them to sign and return them.

A campaign representative told Marijuana Moment that in the four weeks since that initial mailing, about 7.4 percent have been returned with valid signatures—and they anticipate that rate to continue to tick up. The test encouraged them to repeat the process on a greatly expanded basis by mailing packets containing the petition to about 220,000 addresses—that’s every household in the city that has at least one registered voter living there.

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Help reform police priorities in the District of Columbia! If you are registered to vote in DC, we need YOUR help to put Initiative 81 on the November ballot. ⠀ ⠀ –> Download an official petition TODAY. Then, print, sign, scan (or take a picture) and return the signed petition by email! Get the petition here: https://decrimnaturedc.org/petition.pdf⠀ ⠀ #DecrimNature #PlantMedicine #Democracy #ReformPolice #LocalDemocracy #DemandReform #EndtheWaronDrugs #PoliceRefrom #Initiative81 #BallotInitiative #ChangetheLaw

A post shared by Decriminalize Nature DC (@decrimnaturedc) on Jun 9, 2020 at 4:45am PDT

Because of delays in mail processing—and the potential for errors on petitions that would need to be identified, returned, corrected and resubmitted—they’re asking voters to send in their signature sheets by June 26.

The COVID-19 outbreak certainly hit the campaign hard, but organizers have seen a significant, positive response during recent protests against police violence, where they have been able to station tents along main streets and collect signatures with social distancing measures in place.

Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) was approached by a campaign volunteer at a recent protest. But while she held the petition and looked at it, she declined to sign. About 5,000 others did take the opportunity to sign at the events in the span of a week, however.

Im standing by the blue tent with @DecrimNatureDC which has collected over 5,000 signatures in the past week. #I81 is the only police priorities initiative to be on the ballot in DC this year. This is “Direct Democracy” proposed by #DCMOM@MelissaMNDC#BLM#DrugWar#PlantMedicinepic.twitter.com/rFhXvWLohm

— 🔥Adam Eidinger 🌊 (@aeidinger) June 8, 2020

The nature of the demonstrations has led DNDC to emphasize in their messaging the role of the drug war in racial injustices that protestors are targeting.

“As a campaign of concerned DC citizens focused on reforming police priorities and enacting this small step to end the war on drugs in the District of Columbia, Initiative 81 compliments policing reforms demanded at ongoing Black Lives Matter protests which DNDC has attended and supports,” the group said in a press release.

pic.twitter.com/Xty7FLp7zQ

— DecrimNatureDC (@DecrimNatureDC) June 5, 2020

Melissa Lavasani, DNDC’s chief petitioner, said that “in these uncertain times, engagement with local democracy is key to enacting real reform.”

“When you receive a petition in the mail, it is an invitation to both make a positive change in DC laws and to support local democracy by giving DC voters the opportunity to vote on Initiative 81 in November,” she said.

Cops need to take #mushrooms! #Healing#plantmedicine#BLM#BlackLivesMatter#Initiative81#entheogen#EndTheRacistDrugWar#DC#WashingtonDC#SignThePetition#DirectDemocracy#icantbreathe#georgefloyd#psilocybinmushrooms#psilocybe#psilocybinpic.twitter.com/CFjD6d5052

— DecrimNatureDC (@DecrimNatureDC) June 7, 2020

The cost of sending the 220,000 mailers is estimated to be about $160,000, the campaign said. That puts them over budget, but activists are confident that it will give them the push needed to make the ballot. Even if the valid signatures don’t come in ahead of the July 6 deadline, however, the group will be positioned to push ahead for the 2022 primary election—or a special election if something warrants that in the interim.

Though it only covers a small fraction of their costs to date, DNDC says it has brought in about $5,000 in donations after sending out handmade masks featuring various entheogenic plants. The activist company Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps has also donated substantial funds to the effort.

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Campaign To Decriminalize Psychedelics In DC Cleared For Signature Gathering

The Washington, D.C. Board of Elections approved a petition to decriminalize psychedelics on Wednesday, officially clearing the campaign for signature gathering.

It also accepted a motion to allow circulators to sign their own petitions, removing a longstanding prohibition that is viewed as especially problematic given the limited means of signature collection during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sign up at https://t.co/JqxpxG6lyJ and we will mail you a petition to sign and return to us ASAP! We need 30,000 signature by July 6th! #i81#SignAtHome#DemocracyByMail

— DecrimNatureDC (@DecrimNatureDC) May 6, 2020

For Decriminalize Nature D.C., things appear to be falling in place despite the challenging circumstances drug policy reform ballot campaigns across the country have found themselves in this election cycle.

The petition approval comes one day after the D.C. Council voted in favor of a bill that would, for the first time, allow for an alternative signature gathering option that doesn’t necessarily involve in-person contact.

Now, thanks to the legislation, voters will be able to download and print the petition, physically sign it, scan the document and e-mail it back to campaign headquarters.

The Council bill also included language to let circulators sign their own petitions, along the lines of the the Board’s administrative action on Wednesday.

Last minute font fix and this baby is ready to be born. @DecrimNatureDC@MelissaMNDC@DecrimNaturepic.twitter.com/Ab3Mg3Qx5y

— 🔥Adam Eidinger 🌊 (@aeidinger) May 6, 2020

Text of the approved petition states that it would make “the investigation and arrest of adults for non-commercial planting, cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing, possessing, and/or engaging in practices with entheogenic plants and fungi among the Metropolitan Police Department’s lowest law enforcement priorities”

It would also codify “that the people of the District of Columbia call upon the Attorney General for the District of Columbia and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia to cease prosecution of residents of the District of Columbia for these activities.”

With the petition adopted and set to be published in the District Register, Decriminalize Nature D.C. can move ahead with an experimental strategy that it shared exclusively with Marijuana Moment. That will initially involve mailing petitions and educational materials about the initiative to a pool of 10,000 voters.

The mailers will be evenly distributed to four classes of residents: 1) consistent voters who signed the ballot petition for a 2014 marijuana legalization initiative, 2) consistent voters who didn’t sign the legalization petition, 3) occasional voters who backed the cannabis petition and 4) a random selection of residents pulled from the voter roll.

Based on the response rates, activists will make a determination about which voters to target for their next push. In order to qualify, they need to collect about 25,000 valid signatures by July 6. Recent polling indicates that voters would be supportive of the reform move if it appears on the November ballot.

The fate of the campaign seemed grim in the early stages of stay-at-home orders and social distancing requirements that were enacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers asked the mayor and District Council to allow online petition signing but heard nothing back, raising doubts about whether they would be able to collect enough while being restricted from in-person activities.

But these latest moves represent a promising lifeline for the campaign, renewing hope that psychedelics decriminalization will appear on the ballot in the nation’s capitol.

Contributions from the activist soap company Dr. Bronner’s, which is backing a number of reform campaigns across the country, will also help fund the effort

Other drug policy reform campaigns have had mixed fates amid the health crisis.

California activists had hoped to get a measure to legalize psilocybin on the state’s November ballot, but the campaign stalled out amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Organizers in Oregon are holding out hope that a measure to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic purposes will make the ballot. The campaign already collected enough raw signatures to qualify, though they’ve yet to be validated.

Also in Oregon, a separate proposed ballot measure would decriminalize possession of all illicit drugs and use existing marijuana tax revenue to fund expanded treatment services. Activists in nearby Washington State are also working on a similar drug decriminalization and treatment measure.

Marijuana-specific reform campaigns have also felt the sting of the pandemic.

A Montana cannabis legalization campaign that sued the state to allow digital signature collection had their case dismissed last week, but organizers say they may file an appeal and will be pushing ahead despite the legal setback.

In Arizona, the organizers of a legalization effort are petitioning the state Supreme Court to instruct the secretary of state to allow people to sign cannabis petitions digitally using an existing electronic system that is currently reserved for individual candidates seeking public office.

A California campaign seeking to amend the state’s cannabis law also asked for a digital petitioning option.

A campaign to legalize cannabis in Missouri officially gave up its effort for 2020 last month due to signature collection being virtually impossible in the face of social distancing measures.

Idaho medical cannabis activists announced that they are suspending their ballot campaign, though they are still “focusing on distributing petitions through online download at IdahoCann.co and encouraging every volunteer who has downloaded a petition to get them turned in to their county clerk’s office by mail, regardless of how many signatures they have collected.”

North Dakota advocates said that they are suspending their campaign to put marijuana legalization on the November ballot due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Activists behind a campaign to legalize medical cannabis in Nebraska are holding out hope that they will qualify and recently unveiled a new strategy amid the pandemic.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) conceded last month that the 2020 legalization push is “effectively over” in the legislature. Coronavirus shifted priorities, and comprehensive cannabis reform seems to have proved too complicated an issue in the short-term.

It’s not all bad news in 2020 for the reform movement, however. Prior to the outbreak and stay-at-home mandates, measures to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational purposes qualified for South Dakota’s November ballot.

The New Jersey legislature approved putting a cannabis legalization referendum before voters as well.

And in Mississippi, activists gathered enough signatures to qualify a medical cannabis legalization initiative for the ballot—though lawmakers also approved a competing (and from advocates’ standpoint, less desirable) medical marijuana proposal that will appear alongside the campaign-backed initiative.

The D.C. psychedelics decriminalization ballot petition can be downloaded and signed below:

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