Psychedelics Reform Update: Latest Moves In 9 Of 22 States With Existing Bills

Author: Lara Goldstein | March 22, 2023 03:22pm

Since last week’s update, more news has occurred around the country in the area of psychedelics reform. Here are the highlights:

• California: After a March 21 hearing at the Public Safety committee, SB 58 passed and will now face the Appropriations committee. Meanwhile, AB 941 (legalizing psychedelics-assisted therapy for military veterans) has been re-referred to the Assembly’s Health committee on March 20, and AB1021 (rescheduling controlled substances for “a legitimate medical purpose” following federal rescheduling) sits at the Assembly’s Business And Professions committee since March 2.

• Missouri: After a hearing on March 20 at the House Rules Committee, HB 1154 calling the state’s HHS Dept. to research the therapeutic potential of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for certain mental health conditions has unanimously passed.

• Hawaii: A hearing will be held for HB 1340 on March 22 at the Senate’s HHS committee. Other resolutions filed: Senate’s SR153 and SCR133 and House’s HR206 and HCR202 creating a “Therapeutic Psilocybin Working Group"; Senate’s SR206 and SCR215 creating a Medicinal Psychedelics Right-to-try Task Force for a potential program for qualifying terminally ill patients; and Senate’s SR62 and SCR69 establishing a “Beneficial Treatments Advisory Council” to evaluate and recommend “new medicinal mental health treatments”. All of them were referred to committees on March 15, and for the two latter a public hearing is scheduled for March 24.

• Texas: Both HB4173 and HB4428 have been referred to the House Public Health committee on March 21. 

• Minnesota: The House Health Finance and Policy committee took up HF 1884 establishing a task force towards the potential legalization of psychedelics for medical purposes after amending it to promote bipartisanship, holding it in committee to potentially incorporate into broader omnibus health law, as reported Marijuana Moment.

• Vermont: Newly introduced H 423 and companion bill S 119 would decriminalize simple possession of all drugs and expand harm reduction services; H 439 would state-level deschedule psilocybin, mescaline and peyote and S 114 would remove psilocybin from state-level scheduling while also establish a study group to provide recommendations, first reported Marijuana Moment.

• Nevada: A hearing will be held for SB 242 (legalizing research with psilocybin mushrooms and MDMA and decriminalizing possession of up to 4 ounces of the former for certain cases) on March 23 at the Senate’s HHS committee.

• Washington: A hearing will be held for SB 5263 on March 24 at the House Healthcare & Wellness committee.   

• New Hampshire: HB 328 finally followed the path of the other two psychedelics bills introduced in the state’s 2023 session, all marked as “inexpedient to legislate.”

Lastly, a small recap on New York’s committee-pending psychedelics bills filed in the first two months of 2023: 

• Rep. Burke’s Assembly bill A03581 establishing a psilocybin-assisted therapy grant program is still pending at the Health committee since Feb. 3, while its Senate counterpart SB 3520 is pending at the Finance committee since Jan. 31.  

• SB 2340 decriminalizing possession of controlled substances and creating a task force for state law reform has been stalled in the Senate’s Codes committee since Jan. 20, while its Assembly counterpart A03434 is pending in the Codes committee since Feb. 3.  

• Prefiled Assembly bill A00114 legalizing adult use and possession of certain natural plant or fungi hallucinogens and descheduling them from state law sits at the Assembly’s health committee since Jan. 4.

• Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Alexander_Volkov and canbedone on Shutterstock.