Santa Barbara’s Psychedelic Social Club Pushes to Decriminalize Natural Hallucinogens in City

District 216 Members Start Petition and Talks with Councilmembers to Legalize Possession and Use of Psilocybin Mushrooms and More in City

Santa Barbara’s
Psychedelic Social Club
Pushes to Decriminalize
Natural Hallucinogens in City

District 216 Members Start Petition and Talks
with Councilmembers to Legalize Possession
and Use of Psilocybin Mushrooms and More in City

By Callie Fausey | July 21, 2023

District 216’s Wednesday roundtable at LoDo Studios discussed the potential future of psychedelic medicine in the United States. | Credit: Callie Fausey

Psychedelics may not be so “far out” from legalization in Santa Barbara. Larry Norris, a researcher in entheogens — naturally occurring substances like psilocybin (magic mushrooms), which induce altered states of consciousness — has been helping cities around the country “decriminalize nature” and has recently taken trips to Santa Barbara. 

No, not those kinds of trips, necessarily. But Norris has been working with District 216, a psychedelic social club in the city, to lend the group the playbook for decriminalizing natural hallucinogens, such as peyote, ayahuasca, and, of course, psilocybin mushrooms. He’s spoken at the community’s “edutainment” -events twice, having been a key player behind the decriminalization of entheogens in multiple U.S. cities.

In California, Decriminalize Nature, the nonprofit Norris co-founded, supported the trailblazing decriminalization of natural psychedelics in the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz over the last four years. It wouldn’t be a big surprise if Santa Barbara decided to legally ride the psychedelic wave

Continue reading

Subscribe for Exclusive Content, Full Video Access, Premium Events, and More!

Subscribe

Login

Please note this login is to submit events or press releases. Use this page here to login for your Independent subscription

Not a member? Sign up here.