Psychedelic Medicine Push Shifts Into High Gear
After historic wins in Oregon and Colorado, the effort to increase access to psychedelic medicine is heading to a handful of new states in 2023—and a new statistical model published in the Journal of American Medicine predicts that most states will allow access over the next 10-15 years. Here’s what you need to know:
1) Oregon Flips The Switch. The Oregon Health Authority has adopted final regulations for the state’s first-in-the-nation psilocybin treatment program. Meanwhile, the state has begun the licensing process for facilitators, treatment facilities (called service centers), and psilocybin manufacturers [Attn. super nerds: read the regs yourself here]. Jason Wright, a hospital psychiatric nurse undergoing training for psilocybin service centers, told Andrew Jacobs from the New York Times, “it’s incredible to be on the front lines” of psychedelic medicine instead of “pushing ineffective drugs to my patients.” Though service centers won’t start opening until mid-year or later, the Daily Beast’s Deborah Bloom reports that combat veterans are already “lining up.” As Armand Lecomte, a combat veteran who has witnessed 30 of his fellow marines die by suicide after serving in Afghanstan, told Bloom, “It’s ridiculous these veterans have to leave the country they served to get the healing they need. If some of my brethren had access to this, they’d still be here.”
2) Colorado Measure Goes Into Effect. Governor Jared Polis issued a declaration giving effect to Proposition 122, the ballot measure that decriminalized psilocybin and other natural medicines. That means it is no longer a crime under state law to grow, possess, or share these substances. Selling them remains illegal. More importantly, the measure, which Colorado voters passed by nearly 8 points in November, also authorized access to psilocybin treatment in licensed healing centers across the state. Later this month, Polis will appoint a fifteen-member expert advisory committee to guide state authorities with regulations and licensing. Treatment centers won’t open their doors before 2025.
3) New Bills Drop. Lawmakers in both New York and California introduced legislation to decriminalize personal use of psilocybin and other natural medicines. A similar measure passed the California Senate last year with bipartisan support before dying in the Assembly under an arcane procedural rule during the last week of the legislative session. Also expect to see renewed pushes this year in New Jersey, Maine, and Washington.
4) The View From The Future. Twenty-six states will decriminalize psychedelics over the next 10-15 years, according to new research published in the highly-regarded Journal of American Medicine. The authors conclude: “While early legislative efforts occurred in liberal states, the margin between liberal and conservative states has decreased over time, suggesting that psychedelic drug reform is becoming a bipartisan issue. In addition, an analytic model based on marijuana legalization projected that a majority of states will legalize psychedelics by 2034 to 2037.”
