King County resolution decriminalizes psychedelic mushrooms

Published 4:50 pm Wednesday, March 25, 2026

King County Council has “deprioritized” the personal use of psychedelic substances like psilocybin mushrooms to support mental health therapy.

At its March 24 meeting, the council passed a resolution stating its support for continued research for entheogen-related alternative treatments and the full decriminalization of the personal use of entheogens at the state and federal level.

Entheogens are any living, fresh, dried, or processed plant or fungal material containing psychoactive substances. This includes psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca tea, mescaline and iboga.

The council also requested that making the investigation and arrest of personal entheogen use by adults King County’s lowest criminal enforcement priority, and not to use the county’s resources on those law enforcement actions. This request is limited to unincorporated areas and is not intended for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to decline the prosecution of cases for entheogen-related offenses that involve other substances or where public safety is at risk.

“This is a resolution narrowly scoped to the personal use of entheogens for therapeutic and related uses, which existing research shows us is highly effective for a range of conditions like traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorders, substance use treatment and major depressive disorders,” said Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, sponsor of the motion. “It’s for treating situations like my dear friend is facing with a traumatic brain injury where all of the remedies that she has currently sought through the traditional medical system are not working.”

King County Sheriff’s Office already deprioritizes entheogen use alone. Mosqueda said this resolution makes their support for research and advocacy on the state and federal level clear.

“This motion reaffirms current policy at King County,” Mosqueda said. “We do not aggressively police or prosecute the use of entheogens for personal quantities for adults.”

The proposed motion also explicitly does not support driving under the influence of entheogens; possession or distribution of entheogens in schools; use of entheogens on any form of public transit; possession, distribution, or sale of entheogens by or to minor children; commercial manufacturing or sales of entheogens; or conduct that puts public safety at risk.

The decision by the council was not unanimous. Councilmembers Reagan Dunn and Claudia Balducci voted in opposition. Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer was not present for the vote.

Dunn said this ordinance could exacerbate King County’s drug-overdose problem. He cited Oregon’s drug decriminalization in 2021, which was undone in 2024 due to rising overdose deaths. This decriminalization included heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone, LSD, MDMA and psilocybin.

“Drug decriminalization is not the same thing as exploration, and so-called controlled settings are as imaginary as the hallucinations that these drugs cause,” Dunn said. “These are not harmless drugs and we shouldn’t pretend that our actions won’t have consequences.”

Dunn gave the examples of the 2023 shooting at Gorge Amphitheatre campgrounds by an active-duty soldier on hallucinogenic mushrooms, and an Alaska Airlines pilot who pulled fire suppression handles — cutting fuel to the engines — while on mushrooms as examples of the dangers of the drugs.

“Treating King County as a testing ground for an experiment in hallucinogenic drugs is not a route we should take,” Dunn said. “Studies show that the number one way to get people the treatment they need is arrest and contact with our court system. It is the best way for somebody to enter the portal for treatment.”

Balducci said the lack of large-scale studies, and the documented incidents of people using entheogens and encountering “grievous and irreversible psychological harm” were her reasons for voting against the motion.

Mosqueda responded to the opposition by saying they should not exaggerate the efforts in a resolution that states existing practice and supports existing policies of the King County Sheriff’s Office and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

“This motion formalizes what has already been true for a very long time in King County. We will not aggressively police or prosecute this substance, and we will continue to call for the ability for our federal government and our state government to further research so that more people can have the ability to benefit from this in the long term,” Mosqueda said. “This is not a decriminalization motion. It is a deprioritization effort here in King County, and we are growing a chorus of jurisdictions across this country that support taking this public health, evidence-based approach to supporting veterans, to supporting folks who have behavioral health challenges and mental health challenges.”

In Washington state, Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Port Townsend and Jefferson County have passed measures in support of the deprioritization or decriminalization of entheogens. Washington, D.C., and other cities in California and Michigan have entheogen-related crimes of low priority.

Support

Several people spoke in favor of entheogen decriminalization during the March 17 council meeting’s public comment.

Retired Marine Corps combat veteran and co-founder of Key Peninsula Psychedelic Society Matt Metzger said psilocybin mushrooms helps him with PTSD from serving in the Iraq War as well as surviving an attempted murder from a fellow Marine.

“From 2005 to 2020, I was heavily medicated to function as a normal human being. These pharmaceutical drugs numbed me to the world, allowing me to simply survive and carry my trauma without truly living my life. I could not emotionally connect with my wife and sons, and many nights I prayed I wouldn’t wake up, or wished for an accident to end my pain,” Metzger said. “This medicine changed my life profoundly, allowing me to connect with my family and live fully again. It laid a solid foundation for other healing modalities such as therapy, which I still pursue.”

Representatives from Veterans for Peace Seattle Chapter 92 and Psychedelic Medicine Alliance of Washington also spoke in support.