Despite the creation of our resolution being predominantly white in terms of contributions, we received support from the indigenous community, and crafted a diverse team of advocates to discuss legislation with city council members. When we presented at The Public Safety Community, we intentionality chose diverse speakers — men, women, and people of color — so city council witnessed the diversity of voices in the psychedelic movement. But Hodges went a step further by setting up a church and claiming religious freedom under federal law to consume and supply cannabis on the premises.

• “For millennia, cultures have respected entheogenic plants and fungi for providing healing, knowledge, creativity, and spiritual connection,” the report states, saying that these plants may be beneficial for conditions such as substance abuse, anxiety and PTSD.
• Dave Hodges, the founder of Zide Door Church of Entheogenic Plants in Oakland, California, gives a sermon dressed in a robe emblazoned with cannabis leaves.
• As of early May, mushrooms are decriminalized in Denver for people 21 and older.
• Oakland’s Zide Door Church of Entheogenic Plants offers purchase of psilocybin products to confirmed members of its congregation under the protections of a religious exemption.
• By helping guide interested consumers to their products, Bliss Mushrooms hopes to cater to a far wider range of needs than what’s currently possible under the law.

By helping guide interested consumers to their products, Bliss Mushrooms hopes to cater to a far wider range of needs than what’s currently possible under the law. Hodges made it clear that Zide Door never completely closed its doors during the pandemic—the church has remained a place where members can visit and purchase mushrooms—but the weekly public sermons were discontinued as a COVID precaution. “We’re really hoping in any way possible to hold the Oakland police department accountable for what they did,” Hodges said. Oakland North is an online news service produced by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism for, and about, the people of Oakland, California. Our goal is to produce professional and engaging journalism that is useful for the citizens of the city.

Laguna Beach ‘church’ was really an illegal marijuana dispensary, police allege

The church is decidedly non-denominational, and wholly free of dogma, but they do hold sermons and provide educational outreach. Hodges says his church is 100% sincere, even if it did begin as a Halloween costume. Walking into Zide Door today, a seasoned cannabis reporter can’t help but recall the early days of medical marijuana in California.

“Since DNO believes entheogens should not be commodified, there will be no sales of entheogenic plants and fungi, and we will work closely with local communities to share resources,” Gallo wrote in a report to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee. Case law on the matter relationship between bone mineral density and alcohol intake is far from settled, as Hodges readily acknowledges. Which is another reason he’s eager to sue the city of Oakland over the 2020 raid. In that action, police seized money, cannabis and mushrooms—but in the 18 months since there have been no criminal charges filed.

But the portal into America’s only openly operating psychedelic mushroom access point is completely unmarked. Because this self-described Church of Entheogenic Plants doesn’t advertise or proselytize. Looking ahead, he also confirmed that should San Francisco follow in Oakland’s decriminalization footsteps, locals might find Bliss Mushroom products on headshop shelves in this city, as well. “Sales of psilocybin is a felony violation of the CA Health and Safety Code,” Armstead wrote. “Additionally, the Federal Controlled Substance Act lists psilocybin as a Schedule I substance.” Thus, by the letter of the law, Bliss Mushrooms is an illicit operation.

Tindall said the mushrooms have allowed him to appreciate life’s smallest gestures. “With the sacred mushroom, it makes you appreciate even just a breath,” he said. Tindall’s clear blue how to cure a hangover fast eyes begin to water as he explains how much he’s grown as a person since partaking in mushrooms. Like Lewis, Tindall said the plants have helped him overcome feelings of depression.

Find Your Next Psychedelic Journey in Any Major Oakland Area

Integration is one of the most vital processes for ensuring a safe and healthy transition between different states of consciousness. They should assist you in preparation for the experience common withdrawal symptoms of quitting alcohol by providing tools that help you better align with the intentions for your journey. Expectation management is one of the most insightful tools that a psychedelic guide can offer.

An East Coast native, Lin moved to California after graduating from Boston College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Barbara Parker said her office hasn’t yet been served with the lawsuit as of Wednesday afternoon. Okayplayer spoke with Greenheart and Senter about being involved with DNO, the importance of people of color reclaiming and experimenting with psychedelics and more.

Buying magic mushrooms in the Bay Area has always been about knowing where to go and who to ask. However, in the wake of Oakland’s 2019 decision to decriminalize naturally occuring psychedelics—including psilocybin, the active hallucinogenic compound found in shrooms—the options for obtaining the popular psychedelic have grown considerably. Mental health is unique for everyone, and that’s why our top priority is to service your healing journey with a plan that’s tailored to your specific needs and goals. We recognize that this fresh space of psychedelic medicine can be tricky to navigate, and it can be especially difficult to assess who is truly qualified to facilitate a psychedelic experience.

That lawsuit was not successful, but Hodges managed to hold the line until 2015, when San Jose adopted a strict ordinance governing medical cannabis that pushed him out of town. In a back room, past the pulpit and pews, a series of display cases offer an array of cannabis and psychedelic mushrooms. They’re all cubensis—which can be cultivated efficiently indoors—but like cannabis strains they come with a wide selection of colorful names. On this day the menu offered 14 varieties, including Avery’s Albino, Golden Teachers, and Cambodian. Psychedelic mushrooms are among the entheogens that are being decriminalized and legalized by more cities and states around the country. In Oakland, there’s a church where ‘magic mushrooms’ are considered a sacrament.

Hodges said since the ordinance was approved, Romero has led a campaign of “smash-and-grabs” on Measure Z clubs, that result in the business closing for a few weeks before reopening. Around the time the Zide Door Church was raided, Hodges said, at least four clubs had been raided. As Saint explained, psychedelics offer an opportunity for individuals to confront trauma.

Oakland police raided the Zide Door Church of Entheogenic Plants and confiscated $200,000 worth of cannabis, psychedelic mushrooms, and cash, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. An Oakland church that promotes the use of psychedelic mushrooms and cannabis sues the police and the government over a police raid that happened two years ago. The decriminalization is expected to allow law enforcement to focus on more serious, high-priority crime. “For millennia, cultures have respected entheogenic plants and fungi for providing healing, knowledge, creativity, and spiritual connection,” the report states, saying that these plants may be beneficial for conditions such as substance abuse, anxiety and PTSD.

A Magic Mushrooms Church Is Suing Cops for Raiding $200K of ‘Sacrament’

We are a psychedelic medicine concierge service, providing comprehensive consultations and connecting you with our trusted network of local guides. A psychedelic guide has knowledge and experience regarding safety, energetic presence, and crisis management, that family members and friends likely do not have. Another factor to consider is that in these states, we are very energetically in-tune with the environment and the people around us.

In that earlier era, even dispensaries in the friendliest jurisdictions faced the daily threat of a law enforcement raid. As the founder of Sunset Connect, a locally owned an operated recreational cannabis brand, Ali Jamalian is a veteran of San Francisco’s legal cannabis industry. In fact, he said, there are a lot of similarities between where psychedelics are today and where weed was 25 years ago. No special education or background is required to be a trip-sitter, only a dedication to magic mushrooms.

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Lewis, who grew up in a Pentecostal Christian family, was introduced to psilocybin mushrooms when she was a teenager and said the plants helped her overcome deep feelings of depression and even thoughts of suicide. Hodges resumed the live sermons several months ago as COVID rates declined, albeit cautiously. They currently take place only once per month and for a smaller group of members, at a temporary location on Livingston Street near the Oakland harbor. Zide Door required its members to show proof of vaccination before entering the venue after the city of Oakland adopted a local ordinance mandating it earlier this year, and Hodges said the church continues to follow public health guidelines for COVID. He also pushed back on the idea that it’s simply a dispensary using religious freedom as an excuse to sell drugs. Hodges said Zide Door was back up and running the day after the Aug. 13, 2020, raid and that Oakland police haven’t hassled the church since then.

Entheogens: legalized, but not yet legal to sell

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The church denies that its location was identified on the website and says it doesn’t advertise its religious practices, meaning the only ways people could find out are through video presentations of its services or word of mouth, according to the complaint. The church also said members pay a $5 monthly fee and donate in order to obtain cannabis and mushrooms, which are grown by the church. The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals.