Former sheriff says Florida should legalize magic mushrooms

CBS12 reports

When you hear the term “magic mushrooms,” you might think of hippies and tie-dye tee shirts, and picture a party atmosphere.

But in Florida, the latest people to push for this drug’s legalization are usually wearing suits and ties, even uniforms and badges.

One of them is David Shoar, former four-term Sheriff of St. Johns County.

“What these substances seem to be able to do is create additional pathways of the mind, involving neurons and synapses to appreciate things at different levels,” Shoar said. “Those levels allow you to be more productive, happier, more comfortable in your own skin. How can that not be a good thing?”

Shoar — a U.S. Army veteran, former police chief, and former President of the Florida Sheriffs Association — revealed his support for magic mushroom legalization for the first time publicly in an interview with CBS12 News.

He doesn’t want to see this Schedule 1 drug become a recreational drug, but he does think magic mushrooms and their psychedelic compound psilocybin should be used in controlled, therapeutic settings, to help treat mental illnesses like depression and PTSD.

“I think law enforcement will take anything we can get to help people suffering from mental illness because 60 percent of the things we deal with involve mental illness,” he said.

Shoar said he hasn’t taken psilocybin himself, but said he would be open to it to help treat his PTSD. He thinks countless other veterans and law enforcement officers would also benefit from the psychedelic therapy that is currently legal in Oregon and other countries, like Jamaica.

Read full report.  https://cbs12.com/news/local/former-sheriff-says-florida-should-legalize-magic-mushrooms

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