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Evanston Councilmember Devon Reid’s hope to decriminalize psilocybin and other entheogenic plants, commonly known as “magic mushrooms,” was shot down when the Human Services Committee instructed city staff not to move forward with his referral earlier this month.
“We are not understanding the clear harm that the war on drugs is having on our community and we are jeopardizing the lives of more and more of our residents (by not moving this forward) and honestly this is a council that is disappointing to me,” Reid said.
It’s a Class 4 felony to possess up to 200 grams of psilocybin mushrooms in Illinois — punishable by one to three years in prison — and a Class 1 felony to possess more than 200 grams — punishable by four to 15 years in prison.
Evanston’s legal department told the committee it would be impossible to reclassify psilocybin possession as a misdemeanor since it’s classified as a felony by the state. Despite Evanston being a home rule municipality, the Illinois Constitiution states “home rule unit does not have the power … to define and provide for the punishment of a felony.”
Instead of decriminalization, Assistant City Attorney Mari Johnson suggested exploring legislation defining psilocybin enforcement as a low police priority.
“We cannot change what the state deemed a felony (but) we can choose to enforce it differently,” Johnson said. “We could choose to make it a low-level priority for our police department but we cannot change the fact that it is a felony.”
Evanston Police Department Commander Ryan Glew told the committee EPD has not arrested anyone for psilocybin in the last decade, and said he’s only come across the substance once roughly 15 years ago.
In light of this information, Councilmembers Krissie Harris and Eleanor Revelle said psilocybin already appears to be a low-level priority for EPD. Reid said while it’s good EPD currently has a low psilocybin arrest rate, that doesn’t consider what could happen moving forward.
“It’s wonderful that (an arrest) has not happened in the last 10 years,” Reid said. “We can (also) create a local alternative and direct our police department to do essentially what it has been doing to make sure (low-priority psilocybin enforcement) is codified … and we don’t put ourselves in the position of ruining someone’s life (via criminal record) for possessing a plant that naturally grows here on earth.”
Councilmembers Juan Geracaris, Harris and Revelle voted against the proposal while Councilmembers Bobby Burns and Reid voted favorably. After its failure to move forward, Reid packed up his bag and left.
Revelle said she opposed the psilocybin referral in part due to a Johns Hopkins Medicine statement saying the substance should be used under medical supervision.
“Researchers foresee that the process for psilocybin use in the clinic would be similar to how an anesthesiologist prescribes and administers a drug, minimizing the potential for abuse or harm,” John Hopkins Medicine wrote in a 2018 statement.
Health benefits were one reason why Reid said he brought forth psilocybin legislation. Researchers from John Hopkins Medicine report psilocybin helps with depression and alcohol abuse. John Hopkins staff also said psilocybin decreases mental health problems experienced by terminally ill patients.
Reid’s push for looser psilocybin restrictions may still be granted with a proposal in the Illinois General Assembly brought forth by Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago).
Ford’s legislation, the Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens (CURE) Act, aims to “establish a new, compassionate, and effective approach to entheogens.” This would create a two-year program development period to adopt rules to eventually implement a regulatory program allowing adults to receive psilocybin services, create the Illinois Psilocybin Advisory Board within the Department of Public Health and examine scientific research on treating mental health conditions with psilocybin, according to the bill.
The CURE Act is currently in the Rules Committee after being taken up by the Executive Committee. Ford has gathered support for the bill with Representatives Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook), Kevin John Olickal (D-Skokie), Anne Stava-Murray (D-Naperville) and Theresa Mah (D-Chicago) co-signing, according to the Illinois General Assembly website.
“I would love to see the state move away from treating psilocybin (as a crime) and treating it as a public health issue, particularly the mere possession of those substances,” Reid told Pioneer Press.
Reid, who represents the city’s 8th Ward, has sponsored several drug-related referrals to limit the legal, criminal and socioeconomic implications accompanying drug use. These attempts include decriminalizing public cannabis possession, decriminalizing all controlled substances and allowing cannabis consumption lounges. Reid also supported Burn’s successful 2022 referral to eliminate preemployment drug testing for city staff positions.
“The issue (impacting) the Black community is not just the use of substances but specifically the government’s response to that use,” Reid said during the Sept. 7, 2021 Human Services Committee meeting when discussing his unsuccessful all controlled substances referral. “We know that these policies have a racist impact and it’s not just the use of the drugs, it’s the way we’ve responded and we have to stop the harm that we are causing.”
The Illinois American Civil Liberties Union supported Reid’s psilocybin proposal at the Human Services Committee meeting earlier this month. Benjamin Ruddell, a staff attorney at the ACLU, said the organization supports the proposal because drug-related policies often disproportionately impact people of color. Roughly 80% of federal inmates and almost 60% of inmates in state prisons for drug offenses are people of color, according to the Drug Policy Alliance.
Despite Reid’s referral not gaining support this time around, he told Pioneer Press he believes it will eventually hold ground in Evanston considering it received favorable public input.
Corey Schmidt is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
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