Utah Senate Says Yes To Psychedelics And Mental Health Bill, Sending It To Governor

Utah Senate on Friday approved a psychedelic and mental health bill that would create a Mental Illness Psychotherapy Drug Task Force to study and make recommendations on the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs. The bill, which is now heading to the governor’s desk for a signature, would also establish possible regulations for the legal use of psychedelic drugs, reported Marijuana Moment.

The bill, first introduced in January by Rep. Brady Brammer, quickly passed the House in a 68-1 vote. The Senate came close to unanimously approving the measure with 23 votes for and 1 against.

“We need effective tools to treat mental illness,” Brammer said at the time, “if psychedelics can be helpful and safely administered, we need them in our toolbox.”

Brammer, who was previously considered to be a conservative Mormon and therefore not expected to support this kind of legislation, added that there are “indications of treatment benefits for treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, addiction and existential distress” through the use of specific entheogenic substances according to existing research.

Evidence-Based Recommendations

In a committee last week, Brammer highlighted that the task force would “help us stay ahead of things so that we know what we’re talking about as a legislature because this is not going to be an issue that goes away,” adding that they're looking for evidence-based recommendations.

"If the evidence just isn’t there, if it’s too dangerous, if it’s not something that can be recommended and done so responsibly, that’s something that we’re going to have to discern,” Brammer said. “But if we run away from the issue, I can tell you that we’re going to regret it later on.”

Photo: Courtesy of Nadir sYzYgY on Unsplash