California bill paves way for psychedelic therapy after failure to legalize ‘magic mushrooms’

FILE – This August 3, 2007 file photo shows psilocybin mushrooms in a grow room at the Procare farm in Hazerswoude, Central Netherlands. Oregon’s attorney general has approved the text of a ballot measure to make psychedelic mushrooms legal.
(AP photo / Peter Dejong)

California bill paves way for psychedelic therapy after failure to legalize ‘magic mushrooms’

California politics, mental health

Anabel Sosa

January 14, 2024

The movement to legalize psychedelics in California appears to be entering a new phase, with a focus on incremental steps to allow the drugs in therapeutic settings after failed attempts to make more sweeping changes.

An initiative that voters wanted to ask to decriminalize

so-called

Magic mushrooms and products containing psilocybin were declared ineligible for the 2024 ballot when they failed to pass

this last one

one-week deadline to submit signatures. That followed Governor. Gavin Newsom’s veto last year of a bill that would have decriminalized a short list of natural psychedelics, including magic mushrooms.

Now the legislature is considering a much more limited approach. A bill expected to be introduced in the coming weeks will call for legalizing psychedelic-assisted therapy, while a bill passed by the Assembly health committee

this last one

This week, a working group was set to fund to study the benefits and dangers of psychedelic therapy

.

“As we know, California is experiencing a serious mental health crisis,” Assemblymember Marie Waldron (R-San Diego) said during Tuesday’s hearing.

“Having the data will help us establish good policies regarding the use of psychedelics in clinical settings. These therapies have the potential to save countless lives.”

In vetoing last year’s bill to decriminalize psychedelics, Newsom said he wants the state to establish “regulated treatment guidelines” rather than broadly sanction the use of the drugs. He suggested that California “get started on that immediately.”

Testing took place next to Waldron on Tuesday

stands

Senator Scott Wiener, the San Francisco Democrat who wrote the psychedelic, vetoed Bill Newsom.

“Assembly Member Waldron and I are working together this year in the field of psychedelic therapy,” Wiener told the committee. “Later this month or early February

We

“will introduce a bill in the Senate to legalize and create the structure of psychedelic-assisted therapy, in accordance with the Governor’s veto message.”

Waldron emphasizes

D

that her bill would not decriminalize psychedelics and that no one would be treated with psychedelics if it passed. She also pointed to Oregon and Colorado, two states that have already decriminalized the drugs, and said it’s time for California to “act.”

“What we need is a foundation to bring that all together in one place. So this working group would be made up of people who work in a clinical setting,” Waldron said.

Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-La Mesa), who is

bee

obstetrician-gynecologist, asked what she meant by “clinical setting.”

“The jargon you’re saying confuses me,” Weber said, asking several times for clarification on what exactly the group would study and whether it would be randomized controlled trials or rely on anecdotes. Weber was also skeptical of the timeline specified in the bill that would require the working group to be completed by 2026.

Similarly, Pilar Schiavo (D-Chatsworth), who did not support Wiener’s bill last year, said it was “unclear” who would conduct the working group studies.

Outside the Capitol, a ballot measure launched by Decriminalize California has offered voters “a world where anyone can cultivate, produce, distribute, possess, transport and consume an unlimited supply of magic mushrooms or psilocybin-containing products without fear of any criminal charges.” It passed. failed to meet the Jan. 10 deadline to submit the 546,651 valid signatures needed for a statewide vote in November.

The campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Times.

a

various initiatives

which calls for the creation of a state agency to regulate psychedelics, including psilocybin, LSD, mescaline, MDMA, ketamine and cannabis, and fund research into their therapeutic applications, is still collecting signatures in hopes of the November ballot . There is a deadline of March 20 to submit 874,641 valid signatures.

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