Last year was supposed to mark a milestone in the psychedelic movement. Lawmakers and advocates were set to make California the next frontier in allowing the use of “magic mushrooms.”
They were hopeful because Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2023 — after vetoing a bill that would have decriminalized the possession of psychedelics — asked legislators for a bill that would prioritize the therapeutic promise of these drugs.
Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, responded to Newsom’s request with a proposal that would have allowed for psilocybin and other hallucinogens to be ingested in a controlled setting and under the supervision of licensed and trained facilitators.
But that bill, like three similar ones before it and after it, went nowhere. Skeptical lawmakers expressed concerns about funding, standing up a complex program and safety as they turned down the measures.
Undeterred, advocates now are regrouping to try again.
What exactly a new legislative proposal would look like in California is still uncertain, advocates and lawmakers say. Most agree that getting something through in California will have to be more narrow than what’s been proposed in the past, and likely will be centered on providing access to veterans.
What’s most feasible is “some sort of pilot program, or something on a smaller scale to prove it out,” said Jesse Gould, founder and president of the Heroic Hearts Project, which has sponsored psychedelic proposals in California and other states. His nonprofit connects military veterans struggling with post traumatic stress disorder with psychedelic programs in other countries.
Psychedelics remain illegal at the federal level, but voters in two states have authorized them for certain uses and several…
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