After a failed attempt last year to decriminalize a short list of psychedelics, Secretary of State Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is reintroducing legislation to make California the third state to legalize psychedelic therapy for adults.

Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar bill in October, urging state lawmakers to first take steps toward establishing regulated treatment guidelines before attempting to decriminalize possession of these drugs.

It was a very thoughtful veto message, Wiener said

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will introduce a new bill on Tuesday morning with a more clinical approach to expanded access to psychedelic applications.

If passed, California would join successful legalization efforts in Oregon and Colorado, where ballot measures have already passed to legalize psychedelic therapy.

The legislation is unique in that it would be the first to create a grant process through the Governor’s Office of Community Partnerships

and strategic communication

to support public health education about psychedelics. The bill would legalize supervised therapeutic access for adults over the age of 21 for certain substances, including psilocybin and psilocin, also known as “magic mushrooms”; dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, the active ingredient in ayahuasca; MDMA; and mescaline, excluding peyote.

Under the legislation, called the Regulated Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Act, the state regulatory program would be in effect within two years and allow adults to use psychedelics under the supervision and guidance of licensed psychedelic therapists.

“I want California to be a leader in access to psychedelics for people seeking therapy and public education and safety,” Wiener told reporters Monday.

The bill would establish an expert oversight commission appointed by the governor, a professional licensing commission for psychedelic therapy facilitators, and develop regulatory oversight and laboratory testing.

Those seeking psychedelic therapy will have to undergo safety screenings, health assessments

mandated

follow-up actions.

The bills’ sponsor, Heroic Hearts Project, a Florida-based nonprofit organization, is a support group that helps veterans overcome post-traumatic stress disorder through the use of psychedelics. The organization also facilitates trips for veterans to seek psychedelic therapy in countries such as Mexico, where the practice is legal.

Veterans groups and researchers say using psilocybin could provide breakthroughs in therapy, especially for those suffering from PTSD who have not seen improvements with traditional medications.

According to a report published by the Department of Veteran Affairs, there are an estimated seventeen suicides per day among veterans. In 2020, even as suicide rates declined, 6,146 veterans took their own lives

a guess

higher than twenty years ago.

Still, Anna Lembke, a researcher at Stanford University, is concerned about legalizing the use of psychedelics and putting psychedelic therapy in the hands of non-medical professionals.

“There is a good reason that medical professionals prescribe and administer those medications [medications] “I have to go through years of medical school, residency, board certification, etc. to have that privilege,” she told The Times.

Lembke co-authored a recent study showing that emergency room visits in California increased by 54% from 2016 to 2022, and hospital admissions increased by 55%. She emphasized that “increased access” could result in “more individuals and population harm.”

Some concerned parents, like Laurie Dubin, a public health advocate in Northern California, said that “even talking about psychedelics reduces the perception of harm.”

Dubin does

Worried

is concerned about the gray market where teenagers are known to purchase unauthorized chocolate bars, gummies and vapes laced with hallucinogens, and is inclined to oppose the bill unless the legislation also includes prevention education for young people.

In Oregon, nearly 700 people sought psychedelic treatment in the first six months of implementation, said Dr. Brian Anderson, a psychiatrist and researcher at UC San Francisco. The waiting lists number in the thousands, and a large number of those people come from out of state, he said.

Wiener said he still supports a future where psychedelics are decriminalized in California and even noted that the governor’s veto message implied that as well. But the priority for now, he said, is getting a supervised therapeutic model.

If the bill is signed into law, and once logistics such as licensing, medications and locations are approved, Californians could begin therapy by 2027.