California – Full Text Bill SB 519 – Controlled substances: decriminalization of certain hallucinogenic substances.

(1) Existing law categorizes certain drugs and other substances as controlled substances and prohibits various actions related to those substances, including their manufacture, transportation, sale, possession, and ingestion.

This bill would make lawful the possession for personal use, as described, and the social sharing, as defined, of psilocybin, psilocyn, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), ketamine, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), by and with persons 21 years of age or older. The bill would provide penalties for possession of these substance on school grounds, or possession by, or sharing with, persons under 21 years of age.

The bill would also provide for the dismissal and sealing of pending and prior convictions for offenses that would be made lawful by the passage of this bill, as specified. The bill would require the Department of Justice to identify those records and provide them to local jurisdictions to initiate the required proceedings.

(2) Existing law prohibits the cultivation, transfer, or transportation, as specified, of any spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which contain psilocybin or psilocyn.

This bill would repeal those provisions.

(3) Existing law, contingent upon specified changes in federal law regarding the federally controlled substance cannabidiol, would deem a physician, pharmacist, or other healing arts licensee who prescribes, furnishes, or dispenses a product composed of cannabidiol in accordance with that federal law, to be in compliance with state law governing those acts, as specified.

This bill would make those provisions also applicable to the controlled substances made lawful by this bill.

(4) Existing law creates a Research Advisory Panel, as specified, to conduct hearings on, and in other ways study, research projects concerning cannabis or hallucinogenic drugs.

This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to convene a working group, as specified, to research and make recommendations to the Legislature regarding, among other things, the regulation and use of the substances made lawful by this bill, as specified.

(5) Existing law prohibits the possession of drug paraphernalia, as defined.

This bill would exempt from this prohibition, paraphernalia related, as specified, to these specific substances. The bill would also exempt from the prohibition items used for the testing and analysis of controlled substances.

(6) Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that the messages and information provided by various state drug and alcohol programs promote no unlawful use of any drugs or alcohol.

This bill would repeal those provisions.

(7) By eliminating and changing the elements of existing crimes and creating new offenses, and by requiring new duties of local prosecutors, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

(8) This bill would state that its provisions are severable.