Missouri Senators Approve Bill To Legalize Psilocybin Therapy For Veterans And Sex Trafficking Survivors

Missouri senators have advanced a bill to allow military veterans and survivors of sex trafficking who have certain mental health conditions to legally access psilocybin therapy.

The Senate Families, Seniors and Health Committee approved the legislation from Sen. Stephen Webber (D) on Wednesday. A similar House bill focused on the psychedelic moved through a separate panel earlier this month.

In addition to being 21 or older, a military veteran or sex trafficking survivor and enrolled in a clinical trial, participants in the proposed program would need to have PTSD, major depressive disorder, a substance use disorder or be in end-of-life care.

They would also need to provide documentation to the state Department of Mental Health about the treating physician, facilitator and location and time of use.

Further, use of psilocybin would be limited to 150 mg during a 12-month period.

The bill also authorizes the state Department of Health to provide up to $3 million worth of grants to support research on the therapeutic potential of psilocybin.

It would also expand Missouri’s “right to try” law to extend access to psilocybin for those with terminal illness. And it protects both patients and practitioners from facing state-level penalties for using or recommending the novel therapy.

Meanwhile, Missouri’s Republican attorney general recently said it’s “absolutely appropriate” to make psychedelic therapy available as an alternative treatment option, particularly for military veterans. And he plans to be involved with any program that may be approved by the legislature as it takes up various reform proposals.

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Last year, Missouri lawmakers approved a separate $5 million allocation of state opioid settlement money to study whether psilocybin can help treat opioid use disorders and curb overdose deaths.

Initially the provision was for twice that amount—$10 million—and was was briefly earmarked to study ibogaine as a potential treatment rather than psilocybin. The line was later amended to focus on psilocybin, but before its final passage, all references to the specific substances were removed.

Also last year, two committees in the state House of Representatives advanced separate legislation that would have legalized psilocybin by military veterans, but lawmakers ultimately ran out of time in the session to consider the measure further.

That bill, HB 1830, would have allowed military veterans who were at least 21 and diagnosed with a qualifying condition such as PTSD or substance use disorders to legally access laboratory-tested psilocybin. The legislation was modeled off a separate House bill that advanced to the floor of that chamber a year earlier but was not ultimately enacted.

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