Order makes psychedelic mushrooms low priority for Minneapolis police
MINNEAPOLIS -- Minneapolis police will spend less time investigating and arresting people who use natural psychedelics like magic mushrooms.
Mayor Jacob Frey signed an executive order Friday making it the lowest priority for law enforcement. That means police won't investigate, detain or arrest people just for using or growing them.
The mayor says the order is aimed at helping people.
MORE NEWS: Erick Haynes indicted on first-degree murder in death of Zaria McKeever
Kristen Paradise is a therapist who works using low doses of legal ketamine to treat numerous conditions, including anxiety, depression and addiction.
"What it allows people to do is sit in that a little differently and then process through that within that experience and then when they come out on the other side, they actually feel lighter and as if that is not such a heavy weight anymore," said Paradise.
Clinical trials on other psychedelics are underway as a potential way to help veterans suffering from PTSD.
"It's not common," Frey said. "Largely, officers are already not prioritizing this but this is making it very clear, it's putting it in writing, so that everybody knows what to expect and what not to expect."
However, don't expect a free pass for using synthetic psychedelics like LSD or MDMA, or for trafficking of any type.
For the people seeking nature's help for their mental health, Paradise says this could be a game-changer.
"It's beautiful to know that people can do that and then they don't have to have that fear of the police knocking on their door because they're actually doing something to try and improve their mental health," Paradise said.
Police Chief Brian O'Hara says he supports the move.
Minneapolis joins seven other cities and the state of Oregon with similar orders in place.
