I never thought I’d live to see the “establishment” strive to legalize substances that during my youth could get you expelled from school, fired from your job, or incarcerated. This astonishing cultural shift represents one of the most lucrative investment opportunities you’ll witness in your lifetime.

That shift is accelerating. The riots over George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police have triggered a movement to not only legalize marijuana but also decriminalize a host of other drugs, including “magic mushrooms” and even LSD. Somewhere in the astral plane, Timothy Leary is smiling.

In effect, powerful lawmakers at the federal and state levels are waging a war against the War on Drugs.

Case in point: U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) released a police accountability plan on Tuesday that includes proposals to legalize marijuana and decriminalize other drugs to reduce what he claims is excessive policing of communities of color.

(First, a quick lesson in definitions. Decriminalization stops short of outright legalization; it means taking an act that is illegal and removing criminal penalties. Legalization means taking an act that is illegal and making it legal.)

Blumenauer cited statistics showing that black people and other minorities incur substantially higher arrest rates over marijuana compared to white people, despite roughly similar rates of consumption. The congressman said this bias represents the sort of systemic racial prejudice that’s currently propelling urban unrest throughout the country.

Blumenauer stated:

“Reducing police interactions by using non-law enforcement to deal with minor crimes and activities, and repealing punitive drug laws could reduce the criminalization and over-policing of communities of color. We need to rethink the way police are used and encourage alternative policing models that address institutional racism as they are being created.”

Blumenauer said these models should include the repeal of “policies that incentivize over-policing of communities of color, including the prohibition of cannabis and the decriminalization of other drugs.” In devising his plan, the congressman solicited significant feedback from community leaders, as he attests in the following tweet.

Blumenauer also asserted that he wants Small Business Administration relief “eligibility for state-legal cannabis companies” in the next coronavirus bill. The cannabis industry is specifically ineligible for federal disaster loans and other relief programs because of marijuana’s continuing status as an illegal controlled substance on the federal level.

Richard Nixon’s game plan…

Several other political leaders are linking the George Floyd protests with calls for drug policy reform, providing yet another tailwind for marijuana legalization.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) last week characterized his state’s legalization of marijuana as a “civil rights” issue. Also last week, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) said that the passage of marijuana decriminalization legislation this year represents an example of how his state has tackled racial injustices that are fueling mass protests.

Last month, 12 House members introduced a resolution condemning police brutality and specifically noting the inherent racism of the war on drugs. It now has 160 cosponsors.

Some historical context is called for.

Drugs, substances, and certain chemicals used to make drugs are classified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) into five distinct schedules (i.e., categories) depending on the drug’s acceptable medical use and the drug’s abuse or dependency potential.

Schedule I drugs have no currently accepted medical use and aren’t considered safe to use even under medical supervision. They’re considered to have a dangerous potential for abuse and dependency. Marijuana falls into Schedule I, under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The CSA was passed in 1970, at a time when the widespread rebellion of the counter-culture prompted the Nixon White House to launch a “War on Drugs.”

Regardless, states and other jurisdictions have continued to implement policies that conflict with federal law, beginning with the passage of California’s Proposition 215 in 1996.

President Richard Nixon declared a War on Drugs that over the years didn’t make much of a dent in drug consumption. The War on Drugs accomplished at least one goal, though: the mass incarceration of minorities in the U.S.

John Ehrlichman, Nixon’s aide on domestic affairs (who would eventually get convicted in the Watergate scandal) was the architect of the War on Drugs. Here, in Ehrlichman’s own words, was his rationale for the Nixon administration’s draconian drug policy:

“You want to know what this was really all about? The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

Lawmakers in Washington, in both political parties, are now at work to undo Nixon’s legacy. The legalization/decriminalization of psychoactive drugs that confer physical and psychological benefits is a multi-year trend with sustainable momentum that will make investors rich. But you have to pick the right stocks. Click here for our marijuana investment report.

Editor’s Note: Here’s some investment news you might have missed: the marijuana revolution is happening all over again, with a completely different psychoactive substance.

A major emerging trend is the decriminalization of psilocybin fungi, aka “magic mushrooms.” Yep, you read that correctly: magic mushrooms.

The magic mushrooms of counter-cultural lore are becoming a mainstream for-profit business, as a growing number of local governments decriminalize their use.

Magic mushrooms contain a naturally occurring psychoactive and hallucinogenic compound called psilocybin. This compound creates altered perceptions of reality, causing users to see, hear, and feel sensations that don’t really exist outside of the mind’s eye.

Read This Story: Will Magic Mushrooms Soon Sprout Profits?

But magic mushrooms aren’t just for getting stoned and staring at lava lamps. Empirical research shows they can help ease physical pain, depression, anxiety, chronic headaches, and a host of other ailments. Magic mushrooms are destined to play key roles in the future of therapy, in medicine and psychiatry.

Our analysts have been researching the exciting investment opportunities in magic mushrooms. In fact, we’ve pinpointed one company that’s poised to dominate this emerging industry and reap the lion’s share of the investment spoils. Click here for details.

John Persinos is the editor-in-chief of Marijuana Investing Daily. You can reach him at: mailbag@investingdaily.com