A bipartisan coalition of Georgia lawmakers tabled a resolution calling for the formation of a House Study Committee to study the therapeutic potential of psychedelics like psilocybin and make recommendations for reform.
The resolution, sponsored by House Appropriations Public Safety Subcommittee Chairman Bill Hitchens (R), begins with a section discussing the need for effective treatments for major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder for military veterans.
The state’s Emory Healthcare Veterans Program has “experience in both veterans’ and psychedelic treatments, and studies show substantial evidence supporting psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of depressive disorders,” the text reads.
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It also notes that “current research on psilocybin studies excludes patients with a history of substance abuse, and research further shows that psilocybin therapy may enhance sobriety-focused psychotherapy for addiction.”
There are no specific references to specific studies that the proposed House Study Committee on Alternative Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment Resources for Veterans would be commissioned to research; Rather, the measure states that members should “conduct an inquiry into the above or related conditions, needs, questions and issues and recommend any measures or legislation which the Committee considers necessary or appropriate.”
The new five-member committee would include the chair of the House Defense and Veterans Affairs Committee, two members appointed by the Speaker of the House, one of whom would be appointed chair of the Study Committee, and two State Department members on Veterans Affairs.
Rep. Heath Clark (R), chairman of the House Defense and Veterans Affairs Committee, is a co-sponsor of the new bill, as is Rep. Josh Bonner (R), who is serving as parliamentary group leader for Gov. Brian Kemp (R). . The measure has been referred to Clark’s panel but is not yet scheduled for a hearing.
“If the Committee adopts certain findings or recommendations containing proposals for legislative proposals, the Chair shall submit a report thereon prior to the abolition date set forth in this resolution,” the resolution reads. “If the committee adopts a report that does not contain proposals for proposed legislation, the chair must submit the report.”
There would be a tight deadline for any reports or recommendations, with the measure providing for the committee to be dissolved on December 1, 2022.
Activists and lawmakers across the US have shifted into high gear this session when it comes to psychedelics policy reform.
For example, the Hawaii Senate this week approved a bill creating a state working group to study the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin mushrooms and develop a “long-term” plan to ensure the psychedelic is safe for medical use by adults 21 and older years is accessible.
Also this week, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed legislation to decriminalize low-level possession of psilocybin and encourage research into the psychedelic’s therapeutic potential.
Rhode Island lawmakers introduced two drug decriminalization bills this month – including one that focuses on psilocybin and buprenorphine and would authorize doctors to prescribe the psychedelic mushroom.
Also that month, a Republican legislator from Missouri introduced legislation that would legalize a wide range of psychedelics for therapeutic use in designated care facilities, while further decriminalizing low-level possession in general.
Last month, the Utah legislature sent a bill to the governor that would establish a task force to study and make recommendations on the therapeutic potential of psychedelics and possible regulations for their lawful use.
An Oregon Senate committee recently introduced legislation to ensure justice is built into the state’s historic therapeutic psilocybin program, which will be actively implemented following voter approval in 2020.
A group of Maryland senators recently introduced a bill that would create a state fund that could be used to give military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) free access to psychedelics like psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine and at the same time research into psychedelics to support their therapeutic potential.
A bill to decriminalize a wide range of psychedelics in Virginia was picked up by a House panel in January, only to be delayed until 2023. A separate Senate proposal to decriminalize only psilocybin was later defeated in a key committee.
California Senator Scott Wiener (D) said in a recent interview with Marijuana Moment that his bill legalizing psychedelics possession had a 50/50 chance of making it to the governor’s desk this year. In the first half of the two-year session, it already discharged the entire Senate and two committees of the Assembly.
The Washington state legislature also introduced legislation in January that would legalize what the bill calls “assisted psilocybin experiences” for adults 21 and older.
The New Hampshire legislature filed measures to decriminalize psilocybin and all drugs.
Last year, the governor of Connecticut signed legislation requiring the state to conduct a study into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin mushrooms.
Similar legislation was also passed by the Texas Legislature, requiring the state to research the medical risks and benefits of psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine for military veterans in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine and a military-aligned medical center.
Colorado officials last week approved the wording of two other psychedelics reform initiatives from the same campaign that had already passed this procedural step for two separate measures it submitted late last year. A competing campaign filed another legalization of psychedelics last month.
Michigan activists last month submitted a statewide ballot initiative that would legalize the possession, cultivation and sharing of psychedelics and establish a system for their therapeutic and spiritual uses.
Two Michigan senators also introduced a bill in September to legalize the possession, cultivation and supply of a range of plant and fungal psychedelics such as psilocybin and mescaline.
At the congressional level, bipartisan lawmakers last month sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) urging the agency to allow terminally ill patients to use psilocybin as an investigational treatment without fear of federal prosecution.
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