Psychedelics Reform Update: Connecticut's Decriminalization, Vermont Hearings, Arizona's Psilocybin Services & More

State-level psychedelics policy reform is moving fast throughout the U.S. Below is a recap of February 2024 moves.

• Connecticut: Democrat-led HB5297 would decriminalize possession of less than 1.5 ounces of psilocybin. Formerly a class A misdemeanor, the first offense would now imply a $150 fine, and a subsequent one shall begin at $200 and run over $500.

Introduced in the House on February 26, the joint committee on Judiciary will next hold a public hearing on the bill on March 6. If approved by Senate and House, the measure would become effective by October 1, 2024.

• Vermont: On February 14, lawmakers held a hearing in the Senate's Health and Welfare Committee on S114, a 2023-introduced measure that calls for the removal of criminal penalties for possessing, dispensing, or selling psilocybin and the establishment of the state's Psychedelic Therapy Advisory Working Group. The Senate committee took testimony on February 29. 
• Arizona: Near 100% Republican SB1570 laying the foundational regulations for lawful psilocybin therapy services is moving steadily through the legislature. Since its introduction in the Senate on Feb. 5, 2024, the legislation was read a total of three times in the chamber and was finally approved and sent to the House for consideration on February 29.

Separately, GOP-led HB2274 providing firefighters and certified peace officers diagnosed with PTSD with workers compensation coverage including MDMA-assisted therapy also moved fast: first introduction in House on Jan. 16, the measure faced three readings and finally passed the chamber on Feb. 22 when, sent to Senate, it was read for a first time and assigned to the Rules committee. Companion bill SB1677 passed the Senate's majority and minority caucuses on Feb. 27.

• Maine: First introduced in 2023's first special session, LD 1914 calls for the implementation of the Maine Psilocybin Health Access Act, which would effectively create a regulated framework for the provision of psilocybin therapy in service centers.

The legislation was tabled three times this year (Jan. 24, Feb. 21 and finally Feb. 28) in a discussion held at the joint committee, after being carried over from the past year's legislative discussion to the present one.

• Missouri: SB786 legalizing the medical use of psilocybin in the state and mandating clinical trials -supportive state grants included- exploring the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic passed the Senate's Emerging Issues committee on Feb. 28, after a hearing on Feb. 6, with new amendments (see Marijuana Moment's report.) 

The bill's House counterpart, HB1830, faced a hearing on the Veterans committee Jan. 30, where it still sits.

• Utah: Large medical amendments bill SB266 would create a controlled investigational drugs pilot program involving Intermountain Healthcare and University of Utah Health. The bill's sponsor Sen. Kirk Cullimore confirmed that psilocybin or MDMA "are the drugs being contemplated" in the proposal. The bill passed the Senate floor on Feb. 26 and has already been read twice in the House. It now stands in the chamber's Rules committee.
• New Jersey: Introduced Feb. 22, Democrat-led AB3852 or the state's “Psilocybin Behavioral Health Access and Services Act” would authorize the production and use of psilocybin to promote health and wellness. It would also decriminalize and expunge past offenses involving psilocybin production, possession, use and distribution. The bill has been referred to the Assembly's Health Committee where it currently stands.
• Ohio: Around Feb. 20, the state announced it is taking up Kentucky's latest efforts to launch a state-funded ibogaine research to tackle opioid addiction. Bryan Hubbard, former founder and chair of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission (KYOAAC,) has been retained by Results Ohio, part of the state's Treasurer’s office, to explore projects related to the treatment of TBI, PTSD, and other mental health and substance use conditions.

Hubbard has also partnered with the Reaching Everyone in Distress Foundation (REID,) an Ohio-based charitable organization focused on addiction, for the execution of FDA-approved ibogaine clinical research trials in the state. Funds could come from the state's settlement with opioid manufacturers, where a total $1 billion dollars was granted to battle addiction.

• Colorado: Denver's government is forming a work group to explore local regulations under the state's psychedelics legalization law now under implementation. The first U.S. city to decriminalize psilocybin (back in 2019) is now seeking community members and stakeholders with expertise in natural medicine, public health, public health, youth advocacy, social justice and tribal and indigenous interests to join the work group, reported Marijuana Moment.

See the full breakdown and commentary on the state's draft Natural Medicine rules by Vicente LLP on Psychedelic Alpha. 

• New Hampshire: Introduced in December 2023, HB 1693 legalizing and regulating the use of psilocybin, LSD and mescaline for a list of qualifying medical conditions was out of the House Committee on Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs on February 15, where it was referred for an interim study.

The bill calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to create and administer a new program regulating the provision of such psychedelic-assisted therapies for a list of qualifying conditions in adult state residents in "alternative treatment centers." The bill models its proposed statute after RSA 126-X, which established the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes.

The list of health conditions includes anxiety, depression, panic disorder, OCD, post-traumatic stress, social anxiety, body dysmorphia, anorexia nervosa, eating disorders, substance use disorder, sleep disorders, personality disorder, chronic pain, migraines and cluster headaches, among others.

• New Mexico: On February 14 after the Senate unanimously passed it, the governor officially signed Senate Memorial (SM) 12, a non-binding bipartisan resolution formally requesting the state's Health Dept. to research psilocybin's therapeutic potential and explore the creation of a program to provide medical access to the psychedelic. 

The measure was unanimously approved by the Health and Public Affairs Committee after adding that the State Department must partner with the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center for the research.

• Maryland: Democrat-led companion bills HB548 and SB1009 call to establish a task force "on responsible use of natural psychedelic substances," a new body that would have to study and make recommendations on the use of naturally derived psilocybin, psilocin, DMT and mescaline, to the Governor and the General Assembly by Dec. 2025.

The House bill, after a first reading in the Health and Government Operations Committee held a hearing on Feb. 21. The Senate bill, following a first reading in the Finance Committee, will have its hearing on March 14.

Additionally, newly filed HB1057 calls for the creation of a task force to study the use and possession of minimal quantities of controlled dangerous substances.  Following a first reading in the Judiciary Committee, the measure faced a hearing on Feb. 20. 

• Indiana: Bipartisan SB139 on funding clinical research studies into psilocybin's therapeutic use "for mental health and other medical conditions" compared to current treatment options was approved by the House Public Health Committee on February 13.

It has now been referred to the committee on Ways and Means. Filed as an emergency measure, the proposal would become effective immediately upon passage, and officials would have to establish a process for administering the fund and process applications by July 1. 

The bill was cleared the Senate floor on Feb. 6, after which it was sent to the House where it had a first hearing. Before passing, the chamber's committee adopted one amendment, adding alcohol and tobacco use disorders to the list of conditions to be studied as well. 

• Illinois: Filed on Feb. 9 and referred to the Senate's Assignments committee, the Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens Act (SB 3695) would legalize regulated psilocybin therapy in licensed service centers for adults with treatment-resistant conditions including anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance abuse and eating disorders.

The new CURE Act would establish the Illinois Psilocybin Advisory Board under the Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation to create a training program, ethical standards and licensing requirements.

Meanwhile, a similar House measure – first introduced in 2022 – HB 0001 has been assigned to the chamber's Executive Committee on Feb. 14. Both legislations are Democrat-led.

• New York: SB 7832 establishing the psilocybin-assisted therapy pilot program for 10,000 veterans and first responders with cluster headaches from the state's western region has been recommitted for further discussion to the Senate's Health Committee on Feb. 8.

At a recent briefing, lawmakers stated they believe there's a "real chance" for the bill legalizing supervised psilocybin-assisted therapy to move forward this 2024, found Marijuana Moment.

• Hawaii: Introduced in late January, Democrat-led companion bills HB2630 and SB3019 are set to create explicit legal protections on the therapeutic uses of psilocybin in controlled settings and within specified cases. 

The bills would not legalize psilocybin itself but rather enable qualified patients and their caregivers to be exempt from current state laws on psilocybin. Mental health professionals would need to identify a person as having at least one of listed eligible medical conditions, and write a recommendation for psilocybin therapy -up to five grams per session, and paired with preparation and integration sessions.

Facilitators would need to meet certain criteria, plus complete a "psychedelic integration training program" with a curriculum approved by the state's Office of Wellness and Resilience (OWR). Noticeably, the measure is reportedly the product of a 2023-formed task force on breakthrough therapies hosted within the OWR, in the governor's office.

The House bill was sent, with amendments, to the Finance committee on February 16; while the Senate measure was referred to multiple committees including Health and Human Services and Judiciary on Jan. 26. 

• Rhode Island: The House Judiciary Committee considered a psilocybin mushrooms legalization bill and, following a hearing, eventually recommended the measure be held for further study on February 1.

H. 7047's effective penalties' removal on possession, home cultivation and sharing of up to an ounce of the psychedelic mushrooms is also temporary (final date mid-2026), and would not allow for the establishment of a commercial retail system.

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Alexander Volkov and canbedone on Shutterstock.