California is reaching the final stages of psychedelic legalization, as the California State Assembly has passed a bill permitting the possession of certain psychedelics.
State Sen. Scott Wiener (D) has been working for years to get versions of this bill passed, and his Senate Bill 58 has now passed the Assembly in a 42-11 vote on Wednesday.
The legislation would legalize the possession and cultivation of psilocybin, psilocin, dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and mescaline (excluding peyote). The bill allows for the following possession amounts (but excludes synthetic psychedelics such as LSD and MDMA):
- Mescaline: 4 grams
- DMT: One gram
- Psilocybin: One gram, or up to one ounce of “a plant or fungi containing psilocybin”
- Psilocyn: One gram, or up to one ounce of “a plant or fungi containing psilocyn.”
The bill also proposes the establishment of “community-based healing” models to promote the therapeutic use of psychedelics in group settings.
BREAKING: The Assembly just passed our psychedelics decriminalization bill (SB 58).
SB 58 allows personal possession/use of small amounts of plant/mushroom psychedelics & creates a path for facilitated group use.
It’s supported by veterans, 1st responders, health professionals.
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) September 6, 2023
As reported in Marijuana Moment, members of the Assembly adopted a number of amendments including removing ibogaine from the list of legalized substances, lowering possession limits, and pushing back the effective date for legalization to 2025.
The bill now returns to the Senate for final approval of the amendments. Considering a previous version of the bill has already passed the Senate, we might soon see a final bill heading to the Governor’s desk for signing into law.
