Credit: (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)The nationwide push to allow people greater access to psilocybin and other psychedelic substances is supported by a growing body of research that points to their benefits in treating depression, alcohol use and severe post-traumatic stress disorder, among other addiction and mental health issues.
“As we shift the conversation about psilocybin further into the health policy space, we begin to center the health of people in our communities that are desperately searching for options that are culturally responsive, trauma-informed and safe,” Angela E. Allbee, the manager of the Oregon Psilocybin Services Section within the Oregon Health Authority, said in a statement.
Oregon was the first state in the country to implement and regulate legal psilocybin services.
Now, New Jersey lawmakers are introducing legislation to allow for greater access to psychedelics for people suffering from mental health and addiction issues and to researchers eager to study the potential benefits of the hallucinogens.
Last month, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker proposed legislation that would allow the Drug Enforcement Administration to transfer MDMA and psilocybin mushrooms from Schedule I drugs, or substances considered to have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, to Schedule II drugs.
Booker’s bill is the latest from lawmakers seeking to ease the restrictions surrounding the use of psychedelic drugs for therapeutic and medicinal purposes. In June, state Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Middlesex) sponsored legislation to approve the production and use of psilocybin to promote health and wellness and to decriminalize and expunge past offenses involving the drug.
These legislative efforts come as serious mental health issues continue to spike during the pandemic. Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics showed that both the number and the rate of suicides in the United States increased 4% from 2020 to 2021, after two consecutive years of decline in 2019 and 2020, according to a September 2022 report from the agency.
Requirements of the bill
“MDMA and psilocybin have shown exceptional promise in treating mental health conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and addiction,” Booker said in a statement. “In Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials, these drugs have been shown to be safe and effective — so effective that FDA has designated them ‘breakthrough therapies,’ meaning that they demonstrate substantial improvement over currently available therapies.” Because these substances are listed in Schedule I, “regulatory red tape” impedes critical research into their ability to heal, Booker said.
The Breakthrough Therapies Act, which Booker is leading along with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (Kentucky), would reduce bureaucratic hurdles so that researchers can more easily study the therapies, “moving us more quickly towards the day when doctors and patients in New Jersey and around the country can access these potentially life-changing and life-saving drugs,” Booker said.
The move from Schedule I to Schedule II drugs would also help advance a phased rollout of therapies involving MDMA and psilocybin through expanded access pilot programs approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Expanded access is one potential course of action for a patient with a serious or immediate life-threatening illness to obtain a medical product for treatment outside of clinical trials when there are no comparable alternative therapies available.
One of the reasons why rescheduling the drugs is important is because all the research currently being done in the United States, with one exception, is being privately funded, according to Dr. Caroline Dorsen, an associate professor at Rutgers University School of Nursing.
There had been no National Institute of Health funding of psychedelic research since the 1960s. That changed last year when the institute funded Dr. Matthew Johnson’s study at Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, according to Dorsen. The study looks at the impact of psilocybin on tobacco addiction. “So, by rescheduling, it’s going to actually open up those funding streams, which is the hope, so that people are able to do this research with federal funding,” she added.
What other states are doing
In November, Oregon passed the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act, which directs the state health authority to license and regulate psilocybin products and services. The Oregon Psilocybin Services Section will begin accepting applications for licensure on Jan. 2.
People seeking psilocybin services must be 21 years or older and will not require a prescription or medical referral. But an individual will be required to complete a preparation session with a licensed facilitator, or practitioner, who has completed a training program and passed a regulation exam from the Oregon Psilocybin Services, among other requirements. Following the preparation session, the client would then take the drug at a psilocybin service center with the licensed practitioner present. An optional session to learn about additional peer support and other resources is available.
“Policies that support the health of our communities, especially those that provide options for people that are struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma and addiction, is movement forward that will have long-lasting benefits,” said Allbee.
In Colorado, voters passed a ballot initiative in November to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms for people 21 and older and to create state-regulated “healing centers” where participants can experience the drug under supervision, The Associated Press reported.
But the future of psilocybin in New Jersey remains uncertain. Scutari’s bill has not moved since June, when it was introduced and referred to the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.
“For so long, so many of us who are medical providers have been trained to think that these are dangerous drugs that are harmful to people,” Dorsen said. “And so trying to help people open their minds and change their minds based on the evidence is an incredibly important step in thinking about whether or not we will end up being able to use these medications to help the most people.”
