National Roundup

California
State could decriminalize psychedelic drugs
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California lawmaker wants the state to decriminalize possession of magic mushrooms and other psychedelics as part of an agenda to ratchet down the war on drugs.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, plans to introduce a decriminalization bill in the Legislature next year. He was working on it with Assembly members Evan Low, D-Campbell, and Sydney Kamlager, D-Los Angeles.

“Any substance can be harmful, so I’m not suggesting that anything is like nirvana,” Wiener — who said he doesn’t personally take psychedelics — told the San Francisco Chronicle. “But we know that psychedelics can be used safely. We know they appear to have significant medicinal uses.”

Magic mushrooms, touted as a consciousness-expanding drug in the 1960s, have been used in religious or spiritual practices in some cultures for centuries and possibly thousands of years. The mushrooms contain psilocybin, which is responsible for their psychedelic effect. Some researchers believe psilocybin and other drugs show promise in treating depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Oakland, Santa Cruz and Denver all have effectively decriminalized possession of psychedelic mushrooms. Oakland’s City Council resolution last year also covered other plants and fungi containing psychoactive substances. Washington, D.C., voters passed a similar measure last week.

Also last week, Oregon became the first state to make psilocybin legal when voters approved its supervised use for mental health treatment. The Oregon Psychiatric Physicians Association and the American Psychiatric Association argued against the proposal. “We believe that science does not yet indicate that psilocybin is a safe medical treatment for mental health conditions,” the groups said.

Wiener hasn’t decided on what approach his decriminalization measure would take but told the Chronicle he was leaning toward Oregon’s approach, while also allowing the use of other psychedelics, such as LSD.

Wiener’s measure would be part of his broader agenda to scale back some anti-drug laws. Wiener said he also planned to introduce a measure permitting San Francisco and Oakland to experiment with supervised “safe-injection” sites where users could take drugs safely and to reintroduce another measure to end mandatory sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. The Legislature failed the measure this year, but last year did approve another proposition that eased some mandatory sentences.

“The war on drugs has been a disaster, in terms of bloating law enforcement, tearing apart communities, criminalizing addiction and spending enormous amounts of money on prisons,” Wiener said. “We need to end the war on drugs. Possession of drugs should just not be a crime.”


Texas
Teacher accused of fatally shooting teenage son
WACO, Texas (AP) — A Central Texas schoolteacher is jailed under a murder charge in the fatal shooting of her teenage son as she was driving him to his first day at a new school.

Sarah Elizabeth Hunt, 39, remained Wednesday in McLennan County Jail in Waco under a $500,000 bond, charged with murdering her 17-year-old son Garrett Hunt. Jail records do not list an attorney for Sarah Hunt.

McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said deputies and police in the small town of Riesel were called just before 8 a.m. Monday to a vehicle reported stalled on Farm Road 1860 about 3.5 miles (5.5 kilometers) east of Riesel. They arrived to find a minivan with its engine running and Garrett Hunt’s body in the front passenger seat with multiple gunshot wounds.

They also found a .40-caliber handgun, a .40-caliber magazine and cartridges on the floorboard and on the ground outside the vehicle, McNamara said.

“She emptied the pistol into his body, 10 rounds. He never had a chance,” McNamara told KWTX-TV in Waco.

Two people encountered the mother walking along the road, who told them her son needed help and was “with her mother in heaven,” according to an arrest affidavit.

“What have I done… this is not real,” she told the two people. Later, under questioning, “she would respond by sobbing, saying ‘I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to,’” the affidavit stated.

“She said she didn’t know why she did it, but I say you can’t shoot someone 10 times with a 40-caliber handgun and not know why you’re doing it. “One shot, maybe, but not 10, and the gun was empty because the slide was locked back,” McNamara said.

Hunt was in her first year as fifth-grade social studies and science teacher at Lake Air Montessori Magnet School, according to the Waco Independent School District. She had previously worked as a teacher in the Andrews school district in West Texas.

The Hunt family had just moved to the Waco area and Hunt was thought to be taking her son to Riesel High School to enroll.

“She picked him up at his father’s home and started toward (Riesel High School) because it was the first day and she was going to register him,” McNamara said. “Then she pulled over, got out of the car, stepped back and shot the boy dead.”

Investigators still have not determined a motive, he said.

Virginia
Prosecutor: 2 officers charged in fatal shooting
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — Two officers have been indicted in connection with the death of a Virginia man who was killed by police during a struggle as officers were confronting him about allegedly abusing the 911 system.

Suffolk Commonwealth’s Attorney C. Phillip Ferguson told WAVY-TV that Newport News police Sgt. Albin Pearson and officer Dwight Pitterson both turned themselves in Wednesday, a day after a grand jury indicted the two on several charges for the death of Henry Kistler Berry III in December 2019.

Pearson, a 12-year veteran of the police force, faces charges including second-degree murder and assault by shooting in the commission of a felony, the newspaper reported. Pitterson has been charged with malicious wounding, misdemeanor assault and two other charges.

Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew has said four officers responded to Berry’s home to charge him with tying up 911 lines when he darted away from the approaching officers and into his apartment. There, he was brought to the ground and snatched an officer’s stun gun. Drew said Berry used the weapon on two or three officers before he was shot and died at the scene.

Newport News police had said Berry was shot by Pearson, who was placed on administrative leave after the shooting.

Ferguson, who was appointed as a special prosecutor in the case, said his team presented evidence to the grand jury after they looked at “all the facts.”

It was not immediately clear if the officers had lawyers who could comment on their behalf. Newport News Police did not immediately return a request for comment by the newspaper.

Both Pearson and Pitterson were being held without bond.