Politics
Connecticut Senate Votes To Expand Psychedelics Pilot Program In Anticipation Of FDA Approval
The Connecticut Senate has passed a bill to expand a pilot program that’s meant to explore the therapeutic potential of psychedelics such as psilocybin and MDMA.
The legislation sponsored by the Joint Committee on Public Health cleared the full Senate in a unanimous 35-0 vote on Wednesday. It now heads to the House of Representatives.
If enacted into law, the proposal would build upon an existing psychedelic-assisted therapy program involving military veterans and first responders who elect to participate in clinical trials.
The new legislation would repeal and replace the current statute to make it so any adults 18 or older who meet clinical eligibility criteria established by the institutional review board of the medical school selected to administer the pilot program could be eligible to receive psychedelics treatment in a clinical setting, with researchers tasked with studying the efficacy of the novel therapeutics.
It would also remove existing language stipulating that the pilot program must end upon federal approval of psilocybin or MDMA by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) or a successor agency.
Additionally, the bill would strike dated language requiring the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to create and facilitate the program by January 2023.
Under the proposal, SB 191, the department is mandated to “establish, within available appropriations, a psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot program, to be administered by a medical school in the state.” That program “shall provide qualified patients with MDMA-assisted or psilocybin-assisted therapy as part of a research program approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration,” or FDA.
“For far too long, the people in our state who are going through refractory depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, they have tried various treatments to be able to help them,” Sen. Saud Anwar (D), chair of the Public Health Committee, said on the floor ahead of the vote. “Unfortunately, there are not a lot of options that are available in those situations, and we have seen a lot of individuals hurt themselves and then commit suicide.”
“This is not legalization of psychedelics,” he said. “These medicines are only used under specific controlled environment under the guidance of experienced individuals at an institution which has experience in dealing with it. This is going to save lives and help individuals.”
Sen. Heather Somers (R) said psilocybin can help people “break out of the rigid trauma loops and the negative thoughts that they have when they are in severe PTSD and severe depression.”
“I think that we owe it to those living with trauma—especially those who have served our country, who are first responders, who have served us in many different ways—that we explore every safe and effective option,” she said. “Not just the ones that we’re comfortable with, but ones that show potential that we may not necessarily be comfortable with.”
“This isn’t about changing who people are,” Somers said. “It’s about reclaiming who they were before they experienced the trauma, and I think that we owe that to especially the individuals that have served our nation and serve us every day.”
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Meanwhile, last year, the full House of Representatives approved a bill to decriminalize psilocybin for adults—despite questions about whether the state’s Democratic governor would support it after he rejected an earlier version of the reform measure.
That marked the third session in a row that Connecticut lawmakers worked to advance psilocybin decriminalization. In 2023, the reform measure cleared the House but did not move through the Senate. The Judiciary Committee also approved a version in 2024.
Gov. Ned Lamont (D) also signed a large-scale budget bill in 2022 that included provisions to set the state up to provide certain patients with access to psychedelic-assisted treatment using substances like MDMA and psilocybin.
Separately, Connecticut lawmakers are considering legislation this session to allow medical marijuana use by certain qualifying patients at health facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes and hospices.
Photo courtesy of Mark Groeneveld.
