(PORTLAND, Oreg.)—Portland council unanimously approves ordinance that will make psychedelics a low priority for police.
The vote was held during Wednesday's meeting.
Photo Credit: YouTube/eGov PDX
The ordinance establishes Chapter 14B.140 to promote public health and safety by clarifying local enforcement priorities related to naturally occurring psychedelic plants and fungi. The city seeks to focus limited public safety and behavioral health resources on the most harmful substances, trafficking activity, and behaviors that pose the greatest risk to community safety.
The ordinance designates non-commercial personal use of natural psychedelics as a low law enforcement priority while maintaining enforcement against illegal sales, impaired driving, and other unsafe conduct.
After extensive discussion and public comment the week before, the item moved quickly.
Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney took the opportunity to thank many who were involved in the process.
Photo Credit: YouTube/eGov PDX
“I just want to thank the advocates who brought forward their concerns and the idea behind moving this forward, our colleagues on the committee, who put a lot of time and work into making sure we got the language to a place that could gain broad support. And also Commander Shannon with the Portland Police Bureau, who worked alongside us to make sure that this did, in fact align with their current practices and was something that would work seamlessly with how we do things in our city,” Pirtle-Guiney said
Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane thanked those who shared their stories and expressed her gladness that the issue was moving quickly through a unified council.
“I see many of our collective values really aligned in this ordinance. Our concern for mental health, especially those who have experienced trauma, our respect for cultural diversity, spiritual diversity, our support for groundbreaking local wellness community, our concerns for how we focus on public safety resources. All of those are important. I’m really proud that we can be moving this forward alongside many other jurisdictions throughout the country,” Koyama Lane said.
Following this, the ordinance passed with a vote of 10 'aye' and two absent.
If you would like to comment on this report, please email me at rory.h@lead4earth.org.
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