2023 Could Be Make Or Break For Psychedelics In Missouri, This GOP Lawmaker Is Pushing For Change

Missouri Rep. Tony Lovasco (R) recently laid out his plans to file a psychedelics bill providing therapeutic access to psilocybin for those suffering from serious mental health conditions, reported Marijuana Moment.

The legislation constitutes a revision from a prior version Lovasco introduced last March in the House Health and Mental Health Policy Committee but did not move forward.

For the moment, the lawmaker emphasized the clinical setting in which access to psilocybin for people with PTSD and depression would be provided. A physician’s recommendation would also be required to proceed. 

Lovasco said the new version of the bill includes “trigger language,” where the eligible patients’ category would change if psilocybin were moved to a less restrictive category under the Controlled Substances Act. On the other hand, whether other psychedelics will also be included in the proposal is yet to be seen.

In terms of the odds of the measure will land with fellow lawmakers from both parties, Lovasco said the thinks that most Republicans, “when they start really digging into what this drug can do, and specifically what the risks are,” will agree on the statewide access granting.

Lovasco admitted that he was initially “very skeptical” when he first began investigating psilocybin's potential therapeutic effects, but after researching it, he became convinced that “it really is something we need to be doing here in Missouri.”

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Chones and Cannabis_Pic on Shutterstock and Wikimedia Commons.