Psychedelics States Reform: Utah, Iowa and Missouri's New Bills, Hawaii And Arizona's Green Lights, New Hampshire's Setback

Newly introduced bills are added to the list of measures calling for some sort of psychedelics legalization, while some of the already filed ones continue progressing and others get a thumbs down.

• Utah: Legislators want to legalize psilocybin therapy for adults over 21 within a clinical setting and a proven diagnosis of depression, treatment-resistant anxiety, PTSD or currently at hospice care. The bill calls for state departments to regulate psilocybin production facilities and register medical and therapy providers, as first spotted in Marijuana Moment.

• Iowa: Representatives aim to remove psilocybin and psilocin from the state’s list of controlled substances.

• Missouri: The state has a bill to promote research into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for the treatment of PTSD, treatment-resistant depression (TRD), substance use disorder and end-of-life care through a state’s department partnership with universities conducting clinical trials and following submitting reports on the findings to the governor, lieutenant governor and legislature.

• Hawaii: A bill calling for research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics like psilocybin and MDMA for treating mental health conditions through a “beneficial treatments advisory council” was unanimously approved by a 5-0 vote. A few amendments were adopted, including locating the advisory council under the governor’s Office of Wellness and Resiliency (OWR) rather than the state’s Health department. The measure now faces the Senate Ways & Means committee. 

See Also: Psychedelics Legislation: Here's The Latest On Hawaii, Virginia, Missouri And More 

• Arizona: A bipartisan effort promoting psilocybin research with grants for up to $30 million for clinical trials on whole mushroom psilocybin’s effects on 13 different mental health conditions has been read for a second time on Jan. 23 and was assigned to the Military Affairs and Public Safety (MAPS) committee on Feb. 1, where legislators unanimously passed the bill.

New Hampshire: Two filed bills, one calling for the removal of DMT from the state’s list of controlled substances and a second repealing the whole Controlled Drug Act both received enough negative votes that they will most likely not continue under discussion in this year’s session, as first noted Marijuana Moment.

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Cburnett on Wikimedia Commons and Octavio Hoyos on Shutterstock.