Certified Election Results Show Initiative 81 Passed with More Than 76% Support

Initiative 81, the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020, Changes Police Priorities for Natural Psychedelics 

 

Washington DC – This week, the DC Board of Elections certified the results of the November 3rd election, finalizing the passage of Initiative 81, the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020. Initiative 81, which needed a simple majority to pass, secured more than 76% of votes across the District of Columbia and won in every precinct in all eight wards.

The ballot initiative, proposed by Ward 6 resident and mother of two Melissa Lavasani, reforms police priorities to ensure that DC residents benefiting from plant and fungi medicines are not law enforcement targets. The entheogenic plants and fungi covered by Initiative 81, including psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, iboga, and mescaline-containing cacti, can help those suffering from depression, anxiety, and addiction.

“As the first East Coast jurisdiction to change laws for plant and fungi medicines, DC voters made history by passing Initiative 81. We are thrilled that an overwhelming majority of voters, more than 76% across the District of Columbia, approved Initiative 81. This victory sends a clear message that DC residents are eager to change police priorities and support DC residents benefiting from natural psychedelics,” said Initiative 81 Proposer and Decriminalize Nature DC Chairwoman Melissa Lavasani. She added, “Initiative 81 is the result of local, grassroots organizing that brought together residents from across the District of Columbia to reform outdated laws that criminalized people for trying to heal. Thank you to everyone who made the success of Initiative 81 possible.”

Now that election results have been certified by the DC Board of Elections, Initiative 81 will be enacted when it passes from the Board of Elections to the DC City Council. Then, Initiative 81 will be transmitted to Congress. Since DC is not a state and all laws enacted by voters or the City Council are subject to congressional approval, lawmakers in the House or the Senate could object to the measure. Congress will have 30 legislative days to review the measure and, if there is no resolution of disapproval passed in both chambers, Initiative 81 will be implemented and published as law in the DC register.

 

For more information about Initiative 81, please visit our website www.DecrimNatureDC.org.

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