Politics
Arizona House Panel Advances Bill To Legalize Psilocybin Service Centers That Has Already Passed The Full Senate
An Arizona House panel has approved a Senate-passed bill to legalize psilocybin service centers where people could receive the psychedelic in a medically supervised setting.
The House Health & Human Services Committee advanced the legislation from from Sen. T. J. Shope (R) in an 8-2 vote on Monday, a move that comes less than two weeks after the measure cleared the full Senate.
If enacted into law, the Department of Human Services (DHS) would be authorized to license psilocybin-assisted therapy centers in the state, where trained facilitators could administer the psychedelic.
The legislation would significantly expand on Arizona’s existing research-focused psychedelics law that provides $5 million in annual funding to support studies into psilocybin therapy.
Bob Parsons, founder of GoDaddy and the Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation, testified at the hearing about his experience with post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing multiple disturbing events during his military combat service—and the transformative therapeutic effects of taking psychedelics including psilocybin and LSD years later.
“I was a different person. I was a completely different person,” he said. “People that knew me could not believe that change.”
Dale Crogan, a firefighter at Mesa Fire who works in peer support with first responders, said the legislation before the committee would “give more opportunity for resources when it comes to treatment and care.”
“By passing this bill, by supporting this, we see the opportunity in not only supporting our first responders and our health care workers, but really supporting their healing process,” he said.
The proposal would establish an Arizona Psilocybin Advisory Board, comprised of members appointed by the governor and legislative leaders. Representatives of the attorney general’s office and DHS, as well as military veterans, first responders, scientists with experience with psilocybin and physicians would be among the members. A floor amendment that was approved also added an enrolled member of a Native American tribe with experience in the use of psilocybin in “culturally and spiritually significant ceremonies.”
The board would be responsible for establishing training criteria for psilocybin service center staff, making recommendations on the implementation of the law, and studying the science and policy developments related to psychedelics.
By July 31, 2025 and each year after that, members would need to submit an annual report on the status of “medical, psychological and scientific” studies into the safety and efficacy of psilocybin, as well as a “long-term strategic plan” on ensuring that psychedelic-assisted therapy remains “safe, accessible and affordable” to people 21 and older.
Medical directors of psychedelic-assisted therapy centers would need to complete at least 132 hours of training under an approved program, which would need to involve lessons on the historical and traditional use of psychedelics, safety and ethics, facilitation skills and preparation, administration and integration.
The bill, which is cosponsored by Senate President Warren Petersen (R), states that DHS would need to start accepting applications for psychedelics centers by January 1, 2026. The department would need to promulgate rules for the program, but it would be barred from requiring specific eligible conditions for participation in psilocybin services.
Regulators could also license psilocybin centers that are carrying out clinical trials into the psychedelic that could lead to a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug.
Meanwhile, in January an Arizona House committee approved a separate bill to protect the $5 million in funding that’s already been designated for psilocybin research from being redistributed amid a state budget deficit.
The fund was enacted last year under an appropriations package signed by the governor that mandated research into the medical potential of psilocybin mushrooms for a variety of conditions.
A Psilocybin Research Advisory Council that was established under DHS met for the first time last November prior an open application period for potential grant recipients.
The grant money must be distributed to applicants with proposals focused on clinical trials that are meant to identify therapeutic applications that could receive FDA approval for treatment of 13 listed conditions.
Arizona one of several states where lawmakers have worked to promote research into psychedelics amid growing public interest in expanding therapeutic access and ending criminalization.
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For example, last week a Missouri House committee unanimously approved a bill to legalize the medical use of psilocybin by military veterans and fund studies exploring the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic.
Connecticut lawmakers held a hearing on a bill to decriminalize possession of psilocybin last week.
A Vermont legislative panel continued its consideration this month of a bill that would legalize psilocybin in the state and establish a work group on how to further regulate psychedelics for therapeutic use.
The governor of New Mexico recently endorsed a newly enacted resolution requesting that state officials research the therapeutic potential of psilocybin and explore the creation of a regulatory framework to provide access to the psychedelic.
An Illinois senator recently introduced a bill to legalize psilocybin and allow regulated access at service centers in the state where adults could use the psychedelic in a supervised setting—with plans to expand the program to include mescaline, ibogaine and DMT.
Alaska House and Senate committees are considering legislation that would create a task force to study how to license and regulate psychedelic-assisted therapy in anticipation of eventual federal legalization of substances like MDMA and psilocybin.
Lawmakers in Hawaii are also continuing to advance a bill that would provide some legal protections to patients engaging in psilocybin-assisted therapy with a medical professional’s approval.
New York lawmakers also said that a bill to legalize psilocybin-assisted therapy in that state has a “real chance” of passing this year.
An Indiana House committee, meanwhile, approved a Republican-led bill that would fund clinical research trials into psilocybin that has already cleared the full Senate.
Bipartisan California lawmakers also recently introduced a bill to legalize psychedelic service centers where adults 21 and older could access psilocybin, MDMA, mescaline and DMT in a supervised environment with trained facilitators.
A Nevada joint legislative committee held a hearing with expert and public testimony on the therapeutic potential of substances like psilocybin in January. Law enforcement representatives also shared their concerns around legalization—but there was notable acknowledgement that some reforms should be enacted, including possible rescheduling.
The governor of Massachusetts recently promoted the testimony of activists who spoke in favor of her veterans-focused bill that would, in part, create a psychedelics work group to study the therapeutic potential of substances such as psilocybin.
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Image courtesy of Kristie Gianopulos.
