Conversations on psychedelic policy reform continue to intensify as the movement gains more bipartisan support across multiple state legislatures in the US.
Last week, Hawaii lawmakers furthered a resolution on the psilocybin workgroup, while the Colorado House moved a bill that would legalize prescription MDMA if the federal government decides to re-schedule the substance.
Meanwhile, activists in Massachusetts are pushing for local and state-level psychedelic decriminalization proposals. Oregon, on the other hand, has a petition asking the state health authority to adopt a entheogenic practitioners framework. (Of note, some of these measures are taking place in very conserative states like Oklahoma, an important piece of the political puzzle going forward).
Microdose has put together a summary of recent decriminalization and policy reform updates from around the psychedelic world.
Colorado House sends MDMA bill to the Senate
A bill would legalize MDMA in Colorado if the US Food and Drug Administration approves its prescription and the federal government places it on any schedule of the Controlled Substance Act other than Schedule I.
A bipartisan and bicameral bill was approved by the Colorado House of Representatives by a floor vote of 53-2. It is now sent to the state Senate.
The bill, HB22-1344, notes “it is widely expected that the federal food and drug administration will approve MDMA-assisted therapy for prescription use for PTSD as soon as 2023.”
Considering the projection, the bill adds that “it is in the best interest” of the state residents that “Colorado have the ability to provide MDMA-assisted therapy to treat patients with PTSD” if the federal laws change on the psychedelic substance.
The bill is scheduled to be presented to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on April 25.
Hawaii psilocybin workgroup
A simpler piece of legislation compared to previous psychedelic bills in the Hawaii state legislature, this resolution is asking the state Department of Health to form a psilocybin working group. It was approved by the Hawaii House committee last week. The proposal has already been approved by the Senate.
The resolution asks the Department of Health to convene a therapeutic psilocybin working group “to examine the medicinal and therapeutic effects of psilocybin” and to help further develop long-term strategic plans for therapeutic psilocybin “that are safe, accessible, and affordable” for those aged 21 and over.
“Hawaii should endeavor to work more proactively in creating a climate that is conducive to allowing qualified medical professionals to use psilocybin as a therapeutic tool for those who could benefit from its supervised use,” Nikos Leverenz of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii told the committee in written testimony.
The Senate had amended the resolution, adding that the long-term strategic plan would be considered “should Food and Drug Administration approval for medical use be obtained.” The measure has not yet been scheduled for votes. The latest update was made on Tuesday, as the resolution moved to the Hawaii House Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.
Massachusetts local and state bills
A grassroots advocacy group in Massachusetts is campaigning for local and state-level psychedelic decriminalization through a ballot measure.
The Bay Staters for National Medicines (BSNM) began collecting signatures in the city of Worcester, while reinstating the strategy for state-wide psychedelics and all-drugs decriminalization.
Marijuana Moment reported that activists are pushing to get the proposal to the Worcester City Council either this year, or collect 16,000 signatures by the summer of 2023 to enroll for a November ballot.
Oklahoma bill on psilocybin research
Last week, an Oklahoma Senate committee unanimously voted for a bill allowing institutions to cultivate and administer psilocybin mushrooms for research purposes.
The latest version, however, dropped the broader decriminalization from the bill — which would’ve otherwise allowed the possession of fewer than 1.5 ounces of psilocybin or psilocin-containing plants and fungi.
Approved by a vote of 9-0 in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, the measure would allow institutions to obtain and administer the psychedelic substance for studying its therapeutic benefits in treating ten listed conditions including PTSD, and opioid use disorder.
Oregon’s entheogenic practitioners framework garners support
Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board Licensing and Equity Subcommittees recently endorsed the entheogenic practitioners’ framework, touting the Oregon Health Authority to adopt it. Now, there’s a petition going around asking the OHA to look into the proposed idea.
The new proposed framework also received support from David Bronner, CEO of Dr. Bronner’s, applauding the efforts to make psilocybin-assisted therapy affordable for people from all backgrounds.
“Generally speaking, the indigenous ceremonial container controls and optimizes set and setting in a culturally relevant way, and allows individuals to release and do deep work safely, and inspired the modern therapeutic container in the West, which can be considered in some sense the West’s version of the indigenous ceremonial container,” he wrote in a statement.
He added that ongoing integration and mutual support and care in a community, “with more frequent engagement with medicine, whether religious or secular” can help with healing experiences and insights into long-term character traits.
The religious use framework also received praises from Bill Richards of Johns Hopkins University, who noted psilocybin in mushrooms provides “access to many different states of human awareness, some powerfully facilitative of psychological and/or spiritual development.”
He added that safety will be best ensured when preparation and education are provided in the context of a supportive relationship or community, either in a framework of mental health or religious care.
OPAB is currently having public hearings on its draft psilocybin rules on products and testing this week.
