Big Marijuana Inc. has saturated our state with $1.5 billion in sales last year alone, and State Representative La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) hopes to further expand the drug culture in Illinois. State Representatives Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria), Jonathan Carroll (D-Northbrook), Anne Stava-Murray (D-Downers Grove) and Kevin John Olickal (D-Chicago) are co-sponsors of this terrible proposal.

La Shawn Ford is the chief sponsor of HB 1, which sets the stage for more drugs on the streets and in our communities. The bill creates the “Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens Act” for the purpose of legalizing psilocybin, among other hallucinogenic drugs, which is the psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms — a Schedule 1 drug.

As a way to justify legalization, in Ford’s eyes, HB 1 starts out with everything we’ve done wrong trying to keep drugs off the streets and out of our communities through criminalization. According to the text, we’ve spent too much money, circulated too much misinformation, made drug use less safe, (say what?) and attached unnecessary stigmas – all contributing to the increase of drug use, in his limited opinion. So, Ford’s solution is to remove restrictions and legalize everything. This at a time when drug overdose deaths have reached record levels.

The “harm reduction tools,” which Ford wants in facilities that offer “psilocybin services,” include drug-checking kits, scales, and capsules and would allow “users to make safe and more accurate, evidence-based decisions about their personal use of these substances.” What user wouldn’t like to get these “tools” from the State to make using illegal substances easier? Common sense tells us that these so-called “tools” would inevitably increase drug use, and at taxpayer expense.

HB 1 lays out the groundwork for “psilocybin services” taking place in “administration sessions” for “clients” which is a fancy way of saying they will provide facilities where 18-yr-olds can hallucinate with a paid Dept. of Public Health licensed “facilitator” present.

To make the case that psychedelics are safe for the purpose of legalization, HB 1 relies on sketchy research to support the use of psychedelic compounds to treat mental health and other disorders such as anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, PTSD, and headaches. And there you have it. This is right out of the “medical marijuana” handbook, which was right out of “Big Tobacco.”

‘It’s safe because it has medicinal properties because we say it does. Therefore, it should be legal.’ That’s how they think. They’ll license, regulate, and make available these psychedelics to anyone 18 and older. This is very serious.

But they’ve gotten ahead of themselves, because a few pages into the bill, you’ll find that a person does not have to have any medical or mental condition in order to engage in “psilocybin services.”

And it’s not just psilocybin that they want to decriminalize and legalize. The bill also mentions dimethyltryptamine, ibogaine, and mescaline – all entheogens/hallucinogens/psychedelics.

Let’s take a look at what an entheogen is and what it’s used for:

From Wikipedia: “Entheogens are psychoactive substances that induce alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, or behavior for the purposes of engendering spiritual development or otherwise in sacred contexts. Anthropological study has established that entheogens are used for religious, magical, shamanic, or spiritual purposes in many parts of the world.”

From the Encyclopedia of Human Behavior (Second Edition) 2012, “Among psychologists of religion, entheogen has become the preferred term for chemicals such as psilocybin that are psychoactive drugs that have profound effects on consciousness.”

In Neuropathology of Drug Addictions and Substance Misuse, 2016 entheogens are described as “psychoactive substances known to induce profound changes in perception, including changes in the experience of time or space, as well as alterations in moods, thoughts, and other mental states.”

Mark A. Hoffman in Toxicology in Antiquity (second Addition) 2019, states in his abstract: “The Mystery Religions of the ancient world frequently, if not always, employed the use of psychoactive drugs or entheogens to induce altered states of consciousness.” (emphasis added)

Entheogens are psychedelics most often used in spiritual rituals. This raises an important question:

If Entheogens are used frequently in religious and spiritual rituals* and HB 1 establishes locations in which DPH licensed facilitators will be skilled in “heightened transference in expanded states of consciousness,” is State Representative La Shawn Ford planning to open state-sponsored New Age Eastern Mysticism religious facilities?

The bill goes on to say that on or before July 31, 2024, the Department of Public Health shall publish “medical, psychological, and scientific studies, research, and other information relating to the safety and efficacy of psilocybin and other entheogens in treating mental health conditions, including, but not limited to, addiction, depression, anxiety disorders, headache disorders, and end-of-life psychological distress.”

We’re not holding our breath.

This is wrong on so many fronts. How can allowing mind-altering drugs to be easily made available ever be a good thing? Shame on lawmakers whose job it is to protect its citizenry and do what’s best to help families flourish!

Moreover, what message are they sending to the children and families of Illinois? Say “yes” to drugs? Say “yes” to addiction and a life of mediocrity? That’s the message we are hearing.

TAKE ACTION: Click HERE to contact your state lawmakers. Urge them to reject all bills that decriminalize and legalize any additional Schedule 1 Drugs. Tell them families are suffering enough already as a result of the foolish legalization of marijuana and the lax or non-enforcement of other highly addictive drugs. Tell your lawmakers that it’s his/her job to pass laws that strengthen families, not tear them down.

*Scripture is clear that when we disobey God’s plan for His creation, we open the door to demonic activity. It’s much better NOT to open that door. God always knows what’s best for us.

“…if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4:7

“…you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness.” Romans 6:16

“Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.” Romans 6:12