California in final steps of decriminalizing natural psychedelics

Hi there 🍄 , this week’s highlights include a guide to the stoned ape theory and a moving mushroom that made waves on Reddit.

Psychedelics decriminalization in the Golden State

Step 3: Governor approval ✅ California is in the final steps of decriminalizing naturally occurring psychedelics. Senate Bill 58 seeks to legalize the possession, preparation, and transfer of specific quantities of psilocybin, psilocyn, DMT, ibogaine, and mescaline for personal or facilitated use by individuals aged 21 and older. If Governor Gavin Newsom gives it a thumbs-up by October 14, the bill will go into effect January 1, 2025. This move focuses on harm reduction instead of criminalization, breaking away from the “war on drugs” mentality. That said, synthetic substances like MDMA and LSD are painfully absent from the bill and would remain criminalized.

Read more about the legislation.

Theory, theory on the wall…

How did our consciousness evolve 🌀 The stoned ape theory, initially proposed by ethnobotanist Terrence McKenna in the 1990s, suggests that early hominids' consumption of magic mushrooms played a critical role in the rapid development of human consciousness and societal structures. Dismissed early on by critics as speculative, this theory has a new lease on life given the recent discussions highlighting the accelerated growth of the human brain around 200,000 years ago in documentaries like Fantastic Fungi and the potential role of psilocybin, found in these mushrooms, in enhancing various facets of cognition and serotonin-mimicking effects.

Read more about the stoned ape theory.

Around the web 🌱 

• Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, is the “Mushroom Capital of the World” because the region is uniquely set to grow mushrooms for three seasons. With generational family farms and 500 million pounds of mushroom coming out of Chester County each year, this is a haven for mushroom lovers in the U.S. and just had its 38th annual Kennett Mushroom Festival.

• Robert Johnson covered the shroom boom that’s been happening for the last five years, at least, for Rolling Stone. From mushroom sweatshirts for sale in Walmart to the rush of mushroom-based books in stores, it’s clear that the magic of mushrooms is spreading. But you already knew that because you’re here 😉 

• Have you ever seen a mushroom move like this? Redditors were stumped by the mysterious motion, but some claimed this was nothing new.

Featured artist: Katie DeGroot

Katie DeGroot, an artist based in upstate New York, specializes in vibrant watercolor paintings that delve into the surreal personalities and unique stories embodied by individual trees, their discarded limbs, and their adorning fungi. She draws inspiration from her close observations of nature combined with surrealism and abstraction. Transforming from large-scale floral works to smaller sketches characterized by immediate and spontaneous use of watercolors, her work likens trees to animated beings with their own narratives, encouraging viewers to find beauty and elegance in unexpected places.

If you found these stories enlightening 🍄 …