Touting their supposed efficacy in treating certain illnesses, a Monterey County man has proposed a measure for California's ballot that would legalize consumption of psilocybins, aka "magic mushrooms."

CBS 5 reports that the proposed ballot measure was filed Friday, with hopes that it would appear on the 2018 ballot.

According to the initiative, which you can read in full here, adults over the age of 21 "would be exempted from criminal penalties" for use, "possession, sale, transport and cultivation of Psilocybin."

The man behind the measure is Monterey County resident Kevin Saunders, who's been a candidate for mayor of the city of Marina, among many other things.

From a 2016 KSBW report:

[Saunders] is banned from Starbucks coffee shops worldwide. Saunders served a month in jail after pleading no contest to violating a restraining order and harassing the manager of a Marina Starbucks.

Saunders is also banned from Monterey College of Law in Seaside, where he was expelled as a third-year law student.

According to KSBW, Saunders drew criticism last November when he reportedly targeted Monterey County Weekly reporter Sara Rubin with an "anti-Semitic rant" in which he said “Send this shill back to Jersey or Haaretz” and “These J’s will do just about anything to stop me."

Going back further to 2014, Saunders was sentenced to a month in jail for "violating a restraining order, making harassing phone calls and violation elections code," the Weekly reported at the time. He was also required to seek mental health counseling.

Fast-forward to today, and Saunders says he's now hard at work helping the mental health of everyone in California. According to the LA Times, in two studies published last November (you can read them here):

Trial subjects who received a single moderate-to-large dose of psilocybin got substantial and lasting relief from their profound distress. Among 80 cancer patients who participated in the two trials, as many as 4 in 5 continued to feel measurably less hopeless and demoralized six months after taking the drug than they had upon their recruitment.

For his part, Saunders told the LA Times that "using mushrooms helped him stop using heroin 15 years ago."

“I think we’re seeing something that could literally heal our brothers and sisters," he told the Times. "We’re talking about real cutting-edge stuff."

But before that happens, Saunders will need 365,880 valid signatures to get the measure on the ballot for the November 6, 2018 general election. But Saunders seems ready for the challenge, as he says the time is right for his proposal.

"It’s a natural progression from marijuana legalization," he told the Times. "I think that we are having an opportunity to lead the discussion."

Related: Coyotes, Possibly High On Magic Mushrooms, Attacking Cars Near Stinson Beach