King County committee adopts amendment backing deprioritization of entheogen prosecutions, sends motion to full council

Chair Claudia Mosqueda convened the Health, Housing and Human Services Committee on March 3 and introduced proposed motion 2026-0017, which expresses council support for continued entheogen research and urges deprioritization of criminal enforcement for limited personal entheogen use.

Nick Bowman of Council Central Staff summarized the motion and striking amendment S1, saying the change narrows the definition of "entheogen" to naturally occurring plant or fungal substances, limits "personal use" to noncommercial purposes, sets a minimum user age of 21, prohibits use in public places and inserts language limiting the motion's legal effect. Bowman said the motion also calls for state and federal action on decriminalization and research support.

The chair and multiple council members emphasized that the motion does not instruct the King County Sheriff's Office or the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to change prosecutorial practices. "This motion is narrowly scoped to the personal use of entheogens for therapeutic medical related uses," Chair Mosqueda said, and she reiterated that first responders may still act "to address entheogen related conduct, which is harmful or otherwise illegal."

Council members voiced support for the clarified language. Council Member Fain said the revisions "express policy support thoughtfully and responsibly," and Vice Chair Lewis thanked community partners (including the Psychedelic Medicine Alliance of Washington) and said the change should give service providers and people seeking relief "peace of mind" that pursuing therapy will not automatically lead to criminal prosecution. Council Member Baron stressed aligning age guidance with state policy and praised the clarifications.

After discussion the committee adopted Striking Amendment S1 by voice vote. Clerk Calderon then recorded a roll call of four ayes, no noes and no abstentions (Council Member Baron, Council Member Hussain, Council Member Lewis and Chair Mosqueda). By that vote the committee recommended a due pass to the full King County Council on the amended motion and asked staff to place the item on the March 17 council consent agenda.

Next steps: the motion as amended will be transmitted to the full council for consideration on March 17. The committee and central staff indicated they expect continued engagement with the sheriff's office, prosecuting attorney's office and community health providers as the item moves forward.