Arizona Senate Committee Unanimously Approves Bill To Legalize Psilocybin Service Centers

An Arizona Senate committee has unanimously approved a bipartisan bill that would legalize psilocybin service centers where people could receive the psychedelic in a medically supervised setting.

Shortly after a coalition of Republican senators, first responders and military veterans held a press conference to raise attention to the benefits of psychedelic medicines, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee convened for a hearing where members discussed the psilocybin legislation, which is sponsored by the chairman, Sen. T. J. Shope (R), and voted to pass it 7-0.

The measure would allow the Department of Human Services (DHS) to license psilocybin-assisted therapy centers in the state, where trained facilitators could administer the psychedelic.

The senator’s bill would significantly expand on Arizona’s existing research-focused psychedelics law that provides $5 million in annual funding to support studies into psilocybin therapy.

Under the new bill, an Arizona Psilocybin Advisory Board would be established, comprised of members appointed by the governor and legislative leaders. Representatives of the attorney general’s office and DHS, as well as military veterans, first responders, scientists with experience with psilocybin and physicians would be among the members.

Come with us tomorrow as First Responders, Veterans Join Senator @TJShope to Highlight Effort to Legalize Psilocybin Mushrooms as Treatment for Mental Health Conditions. Please show up to support. #psychedelic#sb1570#MentalHealth # pic.twitter.com/MLACBQS1Lr

— Psychedelic Association of Arizona (@48paaz) February 12, 2024

The board would be responsible for establishing training criteria for psilocybin service center staff, making recommendations on the implementation of the law, and studying the science and policy developments related to psychedelics.

By July 31, 2025 and each year after that, members would need to submit an annual report on the status of “medical, psychological and scientific” studies into the safety and efficacy of psilocybin, as well as a “long-term strategic plan” on ensuring that psychedelic-assisted therapy remains “safe, accessible and affordable” to people 21 and older.

Medical directors of psychedelic-assisted therapy centers would need to complete at least 132 hours of training under an approved program, which would need to involve lessons on the historical and traditional use of psychedelics, safety and ethics, facilitation skills and preparation, administration and integration.

The bill, which is cosponsored by Senate President Warren Petersen (R), states that DHS would need to start accepting applications for psychedelics centers by January 1, 2026. The department would need to promulgate rules for the program, but it would be barred from requiring specific eligible conditions for participation in psilocybin services.

Regulators could also license psilocybin centers that are carrying out clinical trials into the psychedelic that could lead to a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug.

“This bill is purely about mental health. It’s about addressing our mental health crisis,” Josh Mozell, an attorney and president of the Psychedelic Association of Arizona, testified at Tuesday’s hearing. “We need to offer some hope and we need to give our doctors options for treatment.”

“We need to do more for these folks who do so much for us,” Sue Sisley, a psychedelics researcher licensed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to cultivate psilocybin for study purposes, said. “With treatment with psilocybin-assisted therapy, it’s giving us all hope.”

Meanwhile, last month an Arizona House committee approved a separate bill to protect the $5 million in funding that’s already been designated for psilocybin research from being redistributed amid a state budget deficit.

The fund was enacted last year under an appropriations package signed by the governor that mandated research into the medical potential of psilocybin mushrooms for a variety of conditions.

A Psilocybin Research Advisory Council that was established under DHS met for the first time last November prior an open application period for potential grant recipients.

The grant money must be distributed to applicants with proposals focused on clinical trials that are meant to identify therapeutic applications that could receive FDA approval for treatment of 13 listed conditions.

Arizona one of several states where lawmakers have worked to promote research into psychedelics amid growing public interest in expanding therapeutic access and ending criminalization.

—Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.—

On Tuesday, for example, an Indiana House committee approved a Republican-led bill that would fund clinical research trials into psilocybin that has already cleared the full Senate.

Over the weekend, a New Mexico Senate committee unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution requesting that state officials research the therapeutic potential of psilocybin and explore the creation of a regulatory framework to provide access to the psychedelic.

An Alaska Senate panel took testimony last week on a plan that would create a state task force to explore how to legalize and regulate the therapeutic use of psychedelics in the state.

Bipartisan California lawmakers also recently introduced a bill to legalize psychedelic service centers where adults 21 and older could access psilocybin, MDMA, mescaline and DMT in a supervised environment with trained facilitators.

A Nevada joint legislative committee held a hearing with expert and public testimony on the therapeutic potential of substances like psilocybin last month. Law enforcement representatives also shared their concerns around legalization—but there was notable acknowledgement that some reforms should be enacted, including possible rescheduling.

The governor of Massachusetts recently promoted the testimony of activists who spoke in favor of her veterans-focused bill that would, in part, create a psychedelics work group to study the therapeutic potential of substances such as psilocybin.

A New York lawmaker recently introduced a bill that would create a pilot program to provide psilocybin therapy to 10,000 people, focusing on military veterans and first responders, while the legislature also considers broader psychedelics reform.

A Missouri House committee considered a proposal last month that would legalize the medical use of psilocybin in the state and mandate clinical trials exploring the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic.

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Photo courtesy of Dick Culbert.

Minnesota’s New Psychedelics Task Force Holds Its First Meeting On Monday

A Minnesota psychedelics task force charged with studying the medical benefits of psilocybin, MDMA and LSD and preparing the state for possible legalization will convene on Monday for its first meeting, at which members are expected to select a chairperson and lay out the trajectory of the coming months. The group must return a final report to the state with findings and recommendations by January 1, 2025, and at least one key lawmaker says he plans to file a reform bill shortly thereafter.

The meeting is happening more than three months late, according to a state omnibus bill passed in March that created the Psychedelic Medicine Task Force. But state Rep. Andy Smith (D), who sponsored a standalone bill to create the psychedelics task force this past session and was appointed to serve on the body by the House speaker, told Marijuana Moment he’s confident the task force will hit the ground running.

“Our team at the Department of Health has done a lot of work to kind of prepare the field,” Smith said in a phone interview on Friday, noting that they’ve already held trainings for members on technology and presentation software that the group will be using. “So sort of the nuts and bolts hopefully will be in place, where we can actually get to the introductory getting to know each other and electing a chairman pretty quickly.”

Of 25 posted positions for the task force, 24 have been filled. They include lawmakers and agency representatives as well as a host of others appointed by Gov. Tim Walz (D) with experience in health policy, mental health, substance use disorders, veterans health and psychedelic medicine.

Asked whether the representative for the Dakota tribes would be seated by Monday’s meeting, a representative for the governor told Marijuana Moment in an email that the task force “should be able to meet whether or not that person is appointed. They have a quorum.”

Smith said he’s “not privy” to the status of the final member, noting that it’s a governor’s office matter, but he felt that “the integrity, so to speak, of the task force is not hurt.”

“What I’m hoping for from this first meeting is to have a more solid idea of where we want to go,” Smith said. The task force is focused on three main drugs: MDMA, psilocybin and LSD, he noted, “and I think one of the first things we’ll do is sort of decide how we want to address each of those different things.”

The #Psychedelic Task Force starts *this Monday* !!!https://t.co/cqUPeOyR40

— Rep. Andy Smith (@AndySmithMN) November 3, 2023

An agenda for the meeting includes a welcome, roll call and introductions, refinement of the group’s charter, a review of open meetings rules and other procedures, the selection of a chairperson and the discussion of the group’s plan and cadence going forward.

Asked whether he planned to introduce psychedelics reform legislation following the task force’s findings, the lawmaker, whose term ends next year, replied: “Yes, absolutely.”

“I am already planning on running again,” he continued, “and if—and hopefully when—I’m re-elected and this task force gives their final report..my hope is to bring that legislation in that session.”

As for whether he would follow the task force’s recommendations exactly, Smith left himself some wiggle room.

“First and foremost, I am a representative of my constituents here in Minnesota,” he said. “I have to stick to my conscience there. But the reason we went this route is because I want to be dedicated to listening to the experts on this particular issue and be as responsible as possible.”

Smith also emphasized that he wants to hear from any Minnesotans with ideas or feedback on the way forward. “This can be followed by anyone. Please watch on YouTube and interact and reach out to the correct channels,” the lawmaker said. “If they think there’s an area that we’re not talking about—or they even [have] something simple as a great article or experience and they want to be part of the task force—email me, email other members of the task force.”

Kurtis Hanna, a longtime legalization advocate who works as a public policy and government relations strategist at the firm Blunt Strategies, has been working with lawmakers to build support for creating the group for more than a year.

After more than a decade of focusing primarily on marijuana, Hanna pivoted to work on psychedelics as the next frontier. “After the last election, I noticed we had the trifecta of DFL control,” he said. “I essentially said to myself, ‘I believe that my colleagues that are working on cannabis legalization will be able to get cannabis legalized,’ and I wanted to keep pushing the ball forward on drug reform in Minnesota.”

“Knowing that legalization was going to take a lot of the oxygen out of the room, I decided to pursue the task force as opposed to actual law reform out of the gate,” he said. “Here we are, one year—almost to the day—after the election last year, and this task force is going to be meeting, and they have a budget of half a million dollars to produce these two reports.”

While the final report isn’t due until the start of 2025, the body is required to file a preliminary report by February of next year.

Smith said he imagines the first report will be more about how the task force plans to approach the issues, with findings and recommendations reserved for its final report.

“This first report is going to be kind of like a syllabus—this is what we would like to do, this is how we’re going to go about this—rather than have any actionable steps in that first report,” he said.

Hanna, the lobbyist, also worked to influence some of the picks, he said. “Specifically the two Republican members, I lobbied the minority leaders’ offices and asked that they make these specific appointments, mainly because they were co-authors on the initial enabling language that created the task force in the first place.”

Hanna said that at the moment, he’s not representing any clients on the matter. It’s just an issue he cares about.

“I call it hobby lobbying. I just thought this is work that needs to be done, and I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time trying to track down a client,” he said. “Our organization is a social benefit company, and so we tackle issues that we think need to be done that no one else is doing.”

Lawmakers who have also been appointed to the task force so far include Sens. Kelly Morrison (D) and Julia Coleman (R), who were appointed by bipartisan Senate leadership, as well as Rep. Nolan West (R), a member appointed by the House minority leader who also served on the bicameral conference committee that finalized Minnesota’s newly implemented marijuana legalization law.

As originally introduced as a standalone bill, Smith’s psychedelics legislation would have required the task force to look at mescaline, bufotenine, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, 2C-B, ibogaine, salvinorin A and ketamine. But it was amended in committee to focus only on psilocybin, MDMA and LSD.

In addition to creating the psychedelics task force, the omnibus bill that the governor signed to create the Psychedelic Medicine Task Force also included provisions to establish safe drug consumption sites.

At the local level, the mayor of Minneapolis issued an executive order in July making the criminalization of possession, use and cultivation of psychedelics the city’s lowest law enforcement priority and generally preventing local resources from being used to aid federal and state actions against the substances.

Meanwhile, it became legal for adults 21 and older in Minnesota to possess and cultivate marijuana on August 1.

As for legal cannabis sales, regulators are seeking public input as they begin the process of crafting rules for the state’s new industry. The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) late last month released a new online survey that includes questions on cannabis cultivation, processing and manufacturing. Regulators say they’re hoping to hear from “the widest possible range of community members, advocates, and partners who want to help shape how the rules are drafted.”

A separate Minnesota law also took effect in August that legalizes drug paraphernalia possession, syringe services, controlled substances residue and testing.

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Photo courtesy of Wikimedia/Workman.

Minnesota Lawmakers File Bills To Create Psychedelics Task Force To Plan For Legalization

Minnesota lawmakers are hoping to join the ranks of states that are advancing psychedelics reform this session, introducing legislation to establish a task force to study and advise on the potential legalization of substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.

The House bill is being sponsored by Rep. Andy Smith (D), while the Senate companion is being carried by Sen. Kelly Morrison (D). These developments come as legislators work expediently to enact marijuana legalization in the state.

Under the new proposals, a “Psychedelic Medicine Task Force” would be established in order to “advise the legislature on the legal, medical, and policy issues associated with the legalization of psychedelic medicine in the state.”

I want to give a HUGE thank you to @West4MN for signing on, making this a #bipartisan bill!

— Rep. Andy Smith (@AndySmithMN) February 16, 2023

The 23-member task force would have to consist of officials and experts, including the governor or a designee, the health commissioner, two appointees from House and Senate leadership, the state attorney general or a designee, two tribal representatives, people with expertise in substance misuse treatment, public health policy experts, military veterans with mental health conditions and more.

Members would be required to “survey existing studies in the scientific literature on the therapeutic efficacy of psychedelic medicine in the treatment of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and bipolar disorder, and any other mental health conditions and medical conditions for which a psychedelic medicine may provide an effective treatment option,” the billtext says.

“Psychedelic medicine may include but is not limited to the use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), psilocybin, mescaline, LSD, bufotenine, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, 2C-B, ibogaine, salvinorin A, and ketamine,” it continues.

This task force would establish a #Psychedelic Medicine Task Force to advise the #mnleg on "the legal, medical, and policy issues associated with the legalization of psychedelic medicine in the state."

Full Text here: https://t.co/FlylSUe94H

(2/5)

— Rep. Andy Smith (@AndySmithMN) February 20, 2023

The task force would need to further need to assess whether any particular psychedelic is effective in the treatment of any of those conditions, compare that efficacy to conventional drug treatments and develop a plan that considers the “statutory changes necessary for the legalization of psychedelic medicine.” The body would also need to consider state and local regulation of the substances, as well as federal policy “with a focus on retaining state autonomy to act without conflicting with federal law.”

“The task force shall submit two reports to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over health and human services that detail the task force’s findings regarding the legalization of psychedelic medicine in the state, including the comprehensive plan developed under subdivision,” it says. “The first report must be submitted by February 1, 2024, and the second report must be submitted by January 1, 2025.”

If you live in #Minnesota please let your legislators know about this bill and encourage them to support it. As John Oliver stated in the piece, this has #bipartisan both federally and in the state.

Use this link to contact your legislators: https://t.co/pQoIWJ9iBN

(4/5)

— Rep. Andy Smith (@AndySmithMN) February 20, 2023

With the Democratic-Labor-Farmer party in the majority in the House and Senate, while holding the governorship, this session, there’s optimism about the prospects of advancing bold drug policy. That includes marijuana legalization legislation that’s moved through 10 House committees and seven Senate panels so far.

Minnesota is far from the only state where legislators are taking up psychedelics reform this year.

Last week, for example, a Washington State Senate committee voted to dramatically overhaul to a psilocybin services bill, removing sections that would have legalized use of the psychedelic drug by adults.

Oklahoma lawmakers approved bill in committee last week to promote research into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin while providing legal protections against prosecution for people with eligible conditions who possess the psychedelic.

A Hawaii House committee approved legislation last week to promote research into psilocybin and MDMA.

Iowa, Missouri, New Hampshire and Utah are also some of the latest states where lawmakers are working to advance the issue.

Virginia lawmakers rejected a bill last month that would have allow people with serious mental health conditions to possess and use psilocybin mushrooms with a doctor’s recommendation. Then, last week, a Virginia Senate-passed measure to create a psilocybin advisory board and reschedule the psychedelic was killed in a committee of the GOP-controlled House of Delegates.

Legislators in Connecticut and Massachusetts have also filed bills to revise laws governing entheogenic plants and fungi.

New York Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (D) filed legislation to legalize certain psychedelics like psilocybin and ibogaine for adults 21 and older. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) also recently signed a bill mandating that the state immediately reschedule or deschedule Schedule I drugs like MDMA and psilocybin if they’re reclassified under federal law.

Bipartisan Washington State senators also recently unveiled a revised bill to legalize psilocybin services for adults.

There are also psychedelics reform efforts underway in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, New Jersey and Oregon.

An analysis published in an American Medical Association journal last month concluded that a majority of states will legalize psychedelics by 2037, based on statistical modeling of policy trends.

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Photo elements courtesy of carlosemmaskype and Apollo.