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GOP’s Brian Jones backs legal magic mushrooms
But only for military and first responder vets
Whether or not San Diego County will get a legalized magic mushroom program through state legislation is still hanging fire, according to a December 27 dispatch from CalMatters.
State of the shrooms
Whether or not San Diego County will get a legalized magic mushroom program through state legislation is still hanging fire, according to a December 27 dispatch from CalMatters. The proposal, submitted last year by Democratic Sen. Josh Becker, of Menlo Park and Republican Sen. Brian Jones of San Diego, didn’t gain traction, and the sponsors haven’t said whether they’ll bring it back this year. “Their bill, dubbed Heal Our Heroes Act, would have allowed the counties of San Diego, Santa Cruz and San Francisco to launch up to five centers each where licensed staff could facilitate psilocybin to veterans and former first responders over 21 who passed a screening test,” per the story.
Brian Jones supports experimental access to psilocybin for vets.
“‘Prioritizing and limiting this experimental access to veterans and former first responders is the most responsible route,’ Jones said. He does not support decriminalizing psychedelics for recreational use. ‘I want to serve our veterans who are suffering from these mental ailments and do everything we can so that they get the attention they need when they come home,’ Jones said.” When the bill died in committee in June, Becker put out a statement to San Francisco public TV station KQED bemoaning the failure: “While the Heal Our Heroes Act will not advance in the Assembly Health Committee, it has raised awareness of the work-related trauma and troubling mental health issues our veterans and first responders face after honorably serving our state and country. More than 17 veterans die by suicide each week. This is unacceptable. Our heroes deserve the best care possible.”
On the other hand, an analysis by committee staff cited a “significant lack of parameters and guardrails in this bill,” adding, “Safeguards need to be in place to ensure that each pilot program is established and run in a manner that is safe for participants, scientifically sound, meeting local and state health standards, and is producing conclusions of value for the state.”
Meanwhile, in Oregon, where voters passed a psilocybin clinical legalization measure in 2020, the magic mushroom movement is proceeding. “Heidi Pendergast, the Oregon director of the Healing Advocacy Fund, said 31 licensed psilocybin service centers have set up operations throughout the state, most of them near Interstate 5. As of December 11, 356 psilocybin facilitators had been licensed by the state. By the end of the year, about 8000 clients will have gone through a psilocybin session,” reports the Oregon Capital Chronicle in a December 13 dispatch.
“Military veterans are able to access psilocybin for the first time in the U.S., she said, and the Healing Advocacy Fund has partnered with the Heroic Hearts Project, which connects veterans with psychedelic therapy programs. Eight cohorts from the project have received psilocybin therapy in Oregon. Of those 8000 clients who have received the therapy, she said, five required some sort of emergency call after taking psilocybin.”
But pushback is growing. “In the November election, in more than a dozen Oregon cities, including in the Portland area, voted to ban the regulated sales and use of psilocybin mushrooms.” Stanton Mayor Henry Porter, one of the cities that rejected magic mushrooms use, told CNN: “We just want to say no; we want to opt out for a while,.” He added, “I don’t know what it does. I don’t know how it would be controlled. I don’t know how to keep kids away from it. I guess it’s the fear of things we don’t understand.”
More Toni money
Steve Cushman, the well-connected octogenarian advisor and political funder of San Diego Democratic mayor Todd Gloria, gave $5000 to the 2026 gubernatorial campaign fund of termed out San Diego state Senator Toni Atkins on the second to last day of 2024, state filings show. It marked the end of a busy political year for Cushman, 83. After Point Loma lawyer Steve Richter came up with more than a million dollars, largely for the Republican-leaning Lincoln Club, backing Gloria challenger Larry Turner, Cushman began to raise campaign cash frantically for Gloria. Before then, Cushman — a wealthy Mission Valley real estate mogul who has a long insider history with Republican mayors from Susan Golding to Jerry Sanders — had been a paid advisor to Gloria, retained by the city with a five-year, $24,999 contract, per an October 26 La Prensa post. Cushman’s main city hall agenda for Gloria was promoting the mayor’s controversial 1000-bed homeless shelter on Kettner Street near the airport. “Our priority is Kettner and Vine, and we continue to work on that, Everybody is working in very good faith,” he told the Voice of San Diego.
Steve Cushman: goosed Gloria’s campaign, now aiding Atkins
Despite the huge cash infusion by Richter for Turner, Gloria prevailed in his reelection bid with a 55.3% to 44.6% win. Cash raised by Cushman was poured into a committee calling itself San Diegans for Fairness Supporting Todd Gloria for Mayor & Stephen Whitburn for City Council; major donors included the California Apartment Association Independent Expenditure Committee of Sacramento ($175,000); the Coalition for Patient Access & Innovation, sponsored by CA Life Sciences, also of Sacramento ($85,000): San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce PAC ($85,000); Sycuan Citizens for Good Government ($100,000); and the Building Industry Association of San Diego Co. PAC ($25,000).
Following his defeat, “Turner blamed ‘special interests and developers’ for outspending his campaign,” according to KNSD...The San Diego Union-Tribune, which has long been shedding pages and staff, is suffering yet another blow, based on a post on the social media site “X.” “Hi folks,” wrote U-T’s star political columnist Michael Smolens in a December 16 message. “A personal note: I’m downshifting a bit from here on, writing two columns a week for the Union-Tribune instead of my usual three. I’ll also probably be taking more time off. Not a big change, but hopefully I can smell the roses, or go for a surf, more often. Cheers.”
— Matt Potter
The Reader offers $25 for news tips published in this column. Call our voice mail at 619-235-3000, ext. 440, or sandiegoreader.com/staff/matt-potter/contact/.
Here's something you might be interested in.
GOP’s Brian Jones backs legal magic mushrooms
But only for military and first responder vets
GOP’s Brian Jones backs legal magic mushrooms
But only for military and first responder vets
Whether or not San Diego County will get a legalized magic mushroom program through state legislation is still hanging fire, according to a December 27 dispatch from CalMatters.
State of the shrooms
Whether or not San Diego County will get a legalized magic mushroom program through state legislation is still hanging fire, according to a December 27 dispatch from CalMatters. The proposal, submitted last year by Democratic Sen. Josh Becker, of Menlo Park and Republican Sen. Brian Jones of San Diego, didn’t gain traction, and the sponsors haven’t said whether they’ll bring it back this year. “Their bill, dubbed Heal Our Heroes Act, would have allowed the counties of San Diego, Santa Cruz and San Francisco to launch up to five centers each where licensed staff could facilitate psilocybin to veterans and former first responders over 21 who passed a screening test,” per the story.
Brian Jones supports experimental access to psilocybin for vets.
“‘Prioritizing and limiting this experimental access to veterans and former first responders is the most responsible route,’ Jones said. He does not support decriminalizing psychedelics for recreational use. ‘I want to serve our veterans who are suffering from these mental ailments and do everything we can so that they get the attention they need when they come home,’ Jones said.” When the bill died in committee in June, Becker put out a statement to San Francisco public TV station KQED bemoaning the failure: “While the Heal Our Heroes Act will not advance in the Assembly Health Committee, it has raised awareness of the work-related trauma and troubling mental health issues our veterans and first responders face after honorably serving our state and country. More than 17 veterans die by suicide each week. This is unacceptable. Our heroes deserve the best care possible.”
On the other hand, an analysis by committee staff cited a “significant lack of parameters and guardrails in this bill,” adding, “Safeguards need to be in place to ensure that each pilot program is established and run in a manner that is safe for participants, scientifically sound, meeting local and state health standards, and is producing conclusions of value for the state.”
Meanwhile, in Oregon, where voters passed a psilocybin clinical legalization measure in 2020, the magic mushroom movement is proceeding. “Heidi Pendergast, the Oregon director of the Healing Advocacy Fund, said 31 licensed psilocybin service centers have set up operations throughout the state, most of them near Interstate 5. As of December 11, 356 psilocybin facilitators had been licensed by the state. By the end of the year, about 8000 clients will have gone through a psilocybin session,” reports the Oregon Capital Chronicle in a December 13 dispatch.
“Military veterans are able to access psilocybin for the first time in the U.S., she said, and the Healing Advocacy Fund has partnered with the Heroic Hearts Project, which connects veterans with psychedelic therapy programs. Eight cohorts from the project have received psilocybin therapy in Oregon. Of those 8000 clients who have received the therapy, she said, five required some sort of emergency call after taking psilocybin.”
But pushback is growing. “In the November election, in more than a dozen Oregon cities, including in the Portland area, voted to ban the regulated sales and use of psilocybin mushrooms.” Stanton Mayor Henry Porter, one of the cities that rejected magic mushrooms use, told CNN: “We just want to say no; we want to opt out for a while,.” He added, “I don’t know what it does. I don’t know how it would be controlled. I don’t know how to keep kids away from it. I guess it’s the fear of things we don’t understand.”
More Toni money
Steve Cushman, the well-connected octogenarian advisor and political funder of San Diego Democratic mayor Todd Gloria, gave $5000 to the 2026 gubernatorial campaign fund of termed out San Diego state Senator Toni Atkins on the second to last day of 2024, state filings show. It marked the end of a busy political year for Cushman, 83. After Point Loma lawyer Steve Richter came up with more than a million dollars, largely for the Republican-leaning Lincoln Club, backing Gloria challenger Larry Turner, Cushman began to raise campaign cash frantically for Gloria. Before then, Cushman — a wealthy Mission Valley real estate mogul who has a long insider history with Republican mayors from Susan Golding to Jerry Sanders — had been a paid advisor to Gloria, retained by the city with a five-year, $24,999 contract, per an October 26 La Prensa post. Cushman’s main city hall agenda for Gloria was promoting the mayor’s controversial 1000-bed homeless shelter on Kettner Street near the airport. “Our priority is Kettner and Vine, and we continue to work on that, Everybody is working in very good faith,” he told the Voice of San Diego.
Steve Cushman: goosed Gloria’s campaign, now aiding Atkins
Despite the huge cash infusion by Richter for Turner, Gloria prevailed in his reelection bid with a 55.3% to 44.6% win. Cash raised by Cushman was poured into a committee calling itself San Diegans for Fairness Supporting Todd Gloria for Mayor & Stephen Whitburn for City Council; major donors included the California Apartment Association Independent Expenditure Committee of Sacramento ($175,000); the Coalition for Patient Access & Innovation, sponsored by CA Life Sciences, also of Sacramento ($85,000): San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce PAC ($85,000); Sycuan Citizens for Good Government ($100,000); and the Building Industry Association of San Diego Co. PAC ($25,000).
Following his defeat, “Turner blamed ‘special interests and developers’ for outspending his campaign,” according to KNSD...The San Diego Union-Tribune, which has long been shedding pages and staff, is suffering yet another blow, based on a post on the social media site “X.” “Hi folks,” wrote U-T’s star political columnist Michael Smolens in a December 16 message. “A personal note: I’m downshifting a bit from here on, writing two columns a week for the Union-Tribune instead of my usual three. I’ll also probably be taking more time off. Not a big change, but hopefully I can smell the roses, or go for a surf, more often. Cheers.”
— Matt Potter
The Reader offers $25 for news tips published in this column. Call our voice mail at 619-235-3000, ext. 440, or sandiegoreader.com/staff/matt-potter/contact/.
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