Bipartisan members of Congress sent a letter on Tuesday requesting that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) allow terminally ill patients to use psilocybin as an investigational treatment without the fear of federal prosecution.<\/p>\n
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) started circulating a Dear Colleague letter<\/a> to build support for the request last month. Now signed by a coalition of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, the letter to DEA stresses that there are state and federal right-to-try (RTT) laws that should make it so certain patients can obtain the psychedelic given that it\u2019s shown early potential in ongoing clinical trials.<\/p>\n DEA has denied access, however, resulting in a lawsuit that was filed in March<\/a>\u00a0by a Washington State doctor who sought federal guidance to treat terminal patients with psilocybin mushrooms and was told there wasn\u2019t a legal avenue for him to do so.<\/p>\n The lawmakers said DEA is \u201cobstructing access to psilocybin for therapeutic use consistent with the letter and intent Right to Try (RTT) laws.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cResearch demonstrates that psilocybin provides immediate, substantial and sustained relief from debilitating anxiety and depression in individuals with terminal illnesses,\u201d the letter states. \u201cWe strongly believe that our constituents suffering such illnesses should have access to this investigational drug should they decide to pursue such a course of treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n Beside Blumenauer, the other signatories on the letter are Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Dean Philips (D-MN) and Madeleine Dean (D-PA).<\/p>\n Biggs stands out as an especially interesting signatory given that he\u2019s been openly hostile toward marijuana reform, voting against proposals to end federal prohibition and protect banks that work with state-legal cannabis businesses. The congressman also once inaccurately claimed on the House floor<\/a> that voters in his state only \u201cbarely\u201d approved a measure to legalize marijuana during the 2020 election. In fact, it passed 60-40 percent.<\/p>\n That said, right-to-try laws seem to have broader support among Republicans, with\u00a0Congress and 41 states having adopted such policies, which allow patients with terminal conditions to try investigational medications<\/a> that have not been approved for general use. The new letter says DEA has \u201chas failed to abide\u201d by the law.<\/p>\n The lawsuit against DEA is currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which heard oral arguments in the case in September. Washington State\u2019s attorney general\u2019s office\u00a0joined the plaintiffs in support of psilocybin access<\/a>. DEA argued that the court should dismiss the suit because it lacked jurisdiction.<\/p>\n The lawmakers\u2019 letter is\u00a0addressed to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, who was appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate over the summer.<\/p>\n \u201cUrgent action is needed to ensure that people currently suffering terminal illness can elect treatment involving psilocybin,\u201d it says. \u201cWe therefore urge you to take quick action to ensure that the DEA follows duly enacted RTT law and accommodates constituents with terminal illnesses in receiving psilocybin for therapeutic use.\u201d<\/p>\n Blumenauer separately told Marijuana Moment last month that he\u2019s \u201cexcited\u201d about advancements in psychedelics research, as well as the implementation of a psilocybin therapy program that\u2019s being set up in his home state of Oregon, where voters approved the historic reform<\/a>\u00a0during last year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n Oregon\u2019s initiative is \u201ca model about how to take advantage of the this therapy for people who desperately need it,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are a number of opportunities to demonstrate the power of this therapy. And we are, in a very thoughtful and systematic way, implementing that in Oregon to show how it can result.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think this discussion needs to take place on Capitol Hill\u2014and it\u2019s something that I would like to occur early in the new the new year,\u201d Blumenauer said. \u201cLet people understand the potential, using opportunities now for people in the late stages of life to be able to try this using federal legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the text of the letter to DEA on right-to-try for psilocybin below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Austin Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Initiative For May Ballot<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Bipartisan Congressional Lawmakers Tell DEA To Allow Psilocybin Treatment For Terminal Patients<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Bipartisan members of Congress sent a letter on Tuesday requesting that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) allow terminally ill patients to use psilocybin as an investigational treatment without the fear of federal prosecution. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) started circulating a Dear Colleague letter to build support for the request lastContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52361"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52362,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52361\/revisions\/52362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Bipartisan Congressional Lawmakers Tell DEA To Allow Psilocybin Treatment For Terminal Patients<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"