Politics
New York Lawmakers Schedule Psychedelics-Focused Hearing To Discuss ‘Medicinal Value And Risks’ Of Psilocybin
New York lawmakers have scheduled a hearing to discuss the medical potential of psilocybin as the state considers pursuing a pathway for regulated access to the main psychedelic component of “magic mushrooms.”
In a notice published by the Assembly Health Committee on Wednesday, Chairwoman Amy Paulin (D) noted that, while psilocybin is currently listed as a Schedule I drug, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated it as a “breakthrough therapy” for major depression—indicating that “the therapy may offer improved results for such conditions over currently approved treatments.”
A meeting to go over the science and potential regulations of the novel therapy is scheduled for September 30. Oral testimony is by invite only from the committee, and witnesses have not yet been announced.
“Various localities have enacted measures regarding psilocybin, including the states of Colorado, Oregon, and New Mexico which allow for its supervised use, citing its potential as a treatment for some mental health conditions,” the notice says. “However, more information is needed to better understand the medicinal value that psilocybin may have as a therapy in New York State.”
“To this end, the Committee seeks to hear from researchers, medical experts, and other stakeholders on the potential medicinal value and risks of psilocybin,” Paulin said.
The chairwoman introduced a bill to legalize psilocybin for adults last year, provided they obtain a permit after undergoing a health screening and educational course.
New York legislators have taken special interest in psychedelics reform in recent sessions.
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For example, in January, Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (D) filed legislation calling for the legalization of certain entheogenic substances such as psilocybin and ibogaine for adults 21 and older.
The bill would amend state statute to make legal the “possession, use, cultivation, production, creation, analysis, gifting, exchange, or sharing by or between natural persons of twenty-one years of age or older of a natural plant or fungus-based hallucinogen.”
DMT, ibogaine, mescaline, psilocybin and psilocyn would fall under the definition of “natural plant or fungus-based hallucinogens” that would be legalized by the bill.
Rosenthal’s measure was introduced just days after another New York lawmaker, Sen. Nathalia Fernandez (D), prefiled a measure that would legalize psilocybin therapy for patients with qualifying conditions.
Under that proposal, people could receive psilocybin treatment from a certified facilitator in a clinical setting, or at their home if they’re unable to travel. Patients and facilitators would receive protections against state-level prosecution.
Fernandez also filed an earlier version of the bill last session, but it did not move out of committee either. Only minor technical changes have been made in the latest iteration.
Bicameral New York lawmakers said at a briefing last year that there was a “real chance” that legislation to legalize psilocybin-assisted therapy would advance through committee, emphasizing that delaying action would “neglect” many “people who need help” with certain mental health conditions. That did not ultimately materialize, however.
“We’re in a mental health crisis, and so we need every tool that’s available to us,” Assemblymember Pat Burke (D), who sponsored another bill to create a psilocybin therapy pilot program for 10,000 people, said. He added that “we’re here to turn the page” on the broader drug war.
Photo courtesy of Dick Culbert.
