Pennsylvania Psilocybin Research Bill Faces A Major Obstacle In House Committee

A Pennsylvania legislation poised to promote research into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin mushrooms for certain mental health conditions is facing some challenges as a key House committee continues to express reservations even though the bill was previously amended, reported Marijuana Moment.

Sponsored by Rep. Tracy Pennycuick (R) and titled the “Psilocybin Data Act,” the bill was initially introduced last year. However, the measure did not advance. 

A revised version, which removes a provision allowing the state Department of Health to approve two entities to cultivate the psychedelic for research purposes, was filed earlier this month.

However, Pennycuick told Marijuana Moment that the “watered-down version” of the legislation is still facing some opposition in the House Health Committee, where it’s been referred.

Pennycuick said that he is “not sure” that the chair of the committee, Rep. Kathy Rapp (R), “will even run this.”

“To say I am frustrated is mild compared to how I really feel," the sponsor said. "I have worked this bill for months.”

She added that despite her efforts to build support for the legislation, the chairwoman “shifted course due to an overdose death in her district,” allegedly involving so-called “magic mushrooms.”

“I don’t understand it,” Pennycuick, an Army veteran of 26 years who assembled a cadre of 20 cosponsors, said. “It is frustrating.”

Pennycuick’s newly revised bill, HB 2421, says that  Commonwealth is “in desperate need of innovative and cost-effective mental health treatment to combat this significant public health crisis,” citing statistics about increased rates of mental health complications.   

The proposed legislation looks to create a framework for clinical studies of psilocybin, the active psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, which is proving effective at treating a range of ailments from depression to PTSD to drug dependency.

Photo: Courtesy of Nathan Karsgaard on Unsplash