Denver becomes 1st U.S. city to decriminalize magic mushrooms

A supporter of the Denver ballot measure decriminalizing magic mushrooms.
(Image credit: Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

Denver's Initiative 301, which effectively decriminalizes psychedelic mushrooms, narrowly passed with 50.6 percent of the vote.

Denver is the first city in the United States to approve such a measure. The unofficial results, posted Wednesday afternoon, came as a surprise, as early results on Tuesday night made it appear the initiative would fail. The current tally is 89,320 votes in favor of the measure and 87,341 against, a difference of just 1,979 votes.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.