Politics
New York Should Legalize Psilocybin Therapy, Former Narcotics Prosecutor Says (Op-Ed)
“This is more than a policy change. It’s the seed of a new paradigm: replacing fear with healing, stigma with science, punishment with care.”
By Victoria Cvitanovic, former narcotics prosecutor
Multiple bills to legalize psychedelic mushrooms for medical use have been introduced in New York and now they are finally gaining steam.
If passed, this legislation would allow healthcare professionals to guide patients in supervised settings, extend legal protections to providers and participants and allocate grants to expand access to financially vulnerable communities. This is more than a policy change. It’s the seed of a new paradigm: replacing fear with healing, stigma with science, punishment with care.
My own path towards becoming a psilocybin advocate was neither direct nor predictable.
I began my career as a narcotics prosecutor in New Orleans, seeing firsthand how drug laws criminalize people in pain rather than supporting them. But everything changed after a freak injury. While performing aerial silks, I broke my back and my life unraveled. I sank into chronic pain, depression and despair. Treatments failed. The medications dulled but didn’t heal.
Then one day, a client who was a psychedelic-assisted therapist made an offer. That moment became a wake-up call. I realized I didn’t have to suffer.
That shift turned everything. I underwent ketamine-assisted therapy, and gradually my worldview—and professional life—transformed. I embraced the role of a disability rights advocate and a legal counselor in plant and psychedelic medicine. I now see my life’s work as standing between people and a system that too often denies them medicine or criminalizes their seeking it.
The science on psilocybin therapy is no longer fringe. Rigorous clinical trials have documented durable responses in patients with treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, existential distress, and addiction. What we need isn’t speculation, it’s regulated access to implement it.
The proposed bill embeds critical safeguards: facilitator training and certification, patient screening, cultivation standards, data reporting and ongoing oversight. These guardrails won’t stifle access; they will ensure safety, integrity and credibility.
Yet legal frameworks are not enough without equity. The disability community is the only one anyone can join in an instant. Healing cannot be reserved for the privileged few. Psilocybin treatment isn’t a “tech-bro” trend. That’s why the bill’s grant program matters, why supporting underserved communities, veterans and first responders is critical.
Legalization means nothing if only those with means can access treatment.
We already live in a moment where stigma around psychedelics is being challenged, but change is slow. Even after openly talking about professional and guided psychedelic therapy in interviews, I’ve felt pushback, been asked during job interviews whether what I do is “evil” and worried about reputational fallout.
That fear is exactly why more voices like mine must speak. We need practitioners, patients, lawmakers and the public to engage in serious, compassionate conversations about healing, suffering and justice.
New York now has the chance to lead. It would become the fourth state to create a pathway for people to receive this treatment. Passing this bill would transform psilocybin therapy from illegal experiment into accessible, evidence-based treatment, one rooted in compassion, rigorous regulation and social equity.
Let this be our moment to put science, dignity, and healing at the forefront of policy.
Victoria Cvitanovic is a former narcotics prosecutor in Orleans Parish, Louisina, and now serves as a psychedelic medicine and cannabis attorney at Rudick Law Group, PLLC.
