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The Oklahoma House of Representatives on Monday approved a bill to decriminalize low-level possession of psilocybin and promote research into the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic, sending it to the Senate.<\/p>\n
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Pae (R), cleared the chamber in a 62-30 vote. This comes one month after the measure advanced through the House Public Health Committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n The bill is one of two GOP-led psilocybin reform measures that were filed in the Oklahoma House in January<\/a>. The other is less far-reaching in that it doesn\u2019t contain a decriminalization provision and is more targeted in its research guidelines.<\/p>\n A move to enact an emergency clause to make Pae\u2019s legislation effective immediately came two votes shy of passing on the House floor, however. It will now take effect within 180 days of enactment if the Senate follows suit and the bill is signed by the governor.<\/p>\n \u2014 The 26-year-old lawmaker\u2019s proposal<\/a> would make it so possession of up to one and a half ounces of psilocybin would be punishable by a $400 fine. There was an amendment adopted<\/a> on the floor, but it was technical in nature and meant to simply \u201cclean up language\u201d at the request of state health officials, Rep. Logan Phillips (R), the sponsor of the separate psilocybin research bill who has been working with Pae on the complementary legislation, said on the floor.<\/p>\n To streamline studies into the substance, Pae\u2019s measure would explicitly authorize research institutes to obtain psilocybin and use it for investigations into treatment efficacy for ten different conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe depression and opioid use disorder.<\/p>\n \u201cHB3414 is a chance for Oklahoma to do something about the number of suicides among our veterans and others with mental health issues not helped by other treatments,\u201d Chris Moe, an advocate who has worked to build support for the bill at the Capitol, told Marijuana Moment.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s great to see it pass the state House, as they learn about the ways this can help their constituents,\u201d he said. \u201cI look forward to helping educate the state Senate and work towards getting this to the governor\u2019s desk. This is a chance for Oklahoma to help lead the nation in mental health treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n Eligible research institutes would need to obtain a license for the state Department of Health \u201cfor the purposes of growing, studying, processing, and\/or dispensing psilocybin containing fungi or other naturally occurring source organisms, or studying, extracting, synthesizing, and\/or dispensing psilocybin or psilocin,\u201d according to the bill text.<\/p>\n People participating in psilocybin clinical trials would need to receive a written certification. Those conducting studies without a license, participating in a trial without a certification or otherwise acting out of compliance with the bill by possessing psilocybin outside of the confines of research would face a maximum $400 fine without the threat of jail time.<\/p>\n The other Oklahoma psychedelics research bill from Phillips has not yet received a committee hearing. While the lawmaker\u2019s measure is more dialed back compared to Pae\u2019s by excluding the decriminalization provision, Phillips told Marijuana Moment in an earlier interview that he does support the policy change.<\/p>\n He also said that he feels both measures \u201chave an extremely good chance of being enacted\u201d in the conservative legislature, noting that a bill passed in Texas last year that requires the state to\u00a0carry out studies on psychedelics for veterans<\/a>.<\/p>\n Under Phillips\u2019s proposal, universities and research institutes would be authorized through a statewide investigational new drug program to carry out studies into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin for veterans of the military and Oklahoma National Guard who suffer from \u201cmajor depressive disorder, severe depression, or any other form of depression or anxiety that is not adequately treated by traditional medical therapies.\u201d<\/p>\n The studies would still need to be approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).<\/p>\n If the studies that are facilitated through his or Pae\u2019s bill and show therapeutic value for psilocybin, Phillips said that he could \u201cabsolutely\u201d see an opportunity to expand on the reform by establishing a medical program for the psychedelic in Oklahoma\u00a0similar to what Oregon voters approved in 2020<\/a>, which is actively being implemented.<\/p>\n This latest House vote in Oklahoma is just the latest example of state lawmakers following the tide of local decriminalization efforts that have played out across the country.<\/p>\n For example, Rhode Island lawmakers introduced\u00a0a pair of drug decriminalization bills last week<\/a>\u2014including one focused on psilocybin and buprenorphine that would authorize doctors to prescribe the psychedelic mushroom.<\/p>\n Also last week, a Missouri Republican lawmaker filed a bill that would\u00a0legalize a wide range of psychedelics for therapeutic use<\/a>\u00a0at designated care facilities while further decriminalizing low-level possession in general.<\/p>\n Last month,\u00a0Utah lawmakers sent a bill to the governor<\/a>\u00a0that would create a task force to study and make recommendations on the\u00a0therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs<\/a>\u00a0and possible regulations for their lawful use.<\/p>\n Also last month, a second Hawaii Senate committee approved a bill to set up a state working group to\u00a0study the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin mushrooms<\/a>\u00a0and develop a \u201clong-term\u201d plan to ensure that the psychedelic is accessible for medical use for adults 21 and older.<\/p>\n An Oregon Senate committee also recently advanced a bill to ensure that equity is\u00a0built into the state\u2019s historic therapeutic psilocybin program<\/a>\u00a0that\u2019s actively being implemented following voter approval in 2020.<\/p>\n A group of Maryland senators recently filed a bill that would\u00a0create a state fund that could be used to provide free access to psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0like psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while also supporting research into their therapeutic potential.<\/p>\n A bill to decriminalize a wide array of psychedelics in Virginia was taken up by a House of Delegates panel in January,\u00a0only to be pushed off until 2023<\/a>. A separate Senate proposal to decriminalize psilocybin alone\u00a0was later defeated in a key committee<\/a>.<\/p>\n California Sen. Scott Wiener (D) told Marijuana Moment in a recent interview that his bill to\u00a0legalize psychedelics possession<\/a>\u00a0stands a 50\/50 chance of reaching the governor\u2019s desk this year. It already cleared the full Senate and two Assembly committees during the first half of the two-year session.<\/p>\n Washington State lawmakers\u00a0also introduced legislation in January<\/a>\u00a0that would legalize what the bill calls \u201csupported psilocybin experiences\u201d by adults 21 and older.<\/p>\n New Hampshire lawmakers filed measures to\u00a0decriminalize psilocybin and all drugs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last year, the governor of Connecticut signed legislation that includes language requiring the state to\u00a0carry out a study into the therapeutic potential<\/a>\u00a0of psilocybin mushrooms.<\/p>\n Similar legislation was\u00a0also enacted by the Texas legislature<\/a>, requiring the state to study the medical risks and benefits of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for military veterans in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine and a military-focused medical center.<\/p>\n Colorado officials last week\u00a0approved the language of two more psychedelics reform initiatives<\/a>\u00a0from the same campaign that already passed that procedural step for two separate measures it submitted late last year. A competing campaign\u00a0filed a different psychedelics legalization last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n Michigan activists\u00a0filed a statewide ballot initiative<\/a>\u00a0last month that would legalize possessing, cultivating and sharing psychedelics and set up a system for their therapeutic and spiritual use.<\/p>\n A pair of Michigan senators also introduced a bill in September to\u00a0legalize the possession, cultivation and delivery<\/a>\u00a0of an array of plant- and fungi-derived psychedelics like psilocybin and mescaline.<\/p>\n At the congressional level, bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) last month, urging that the agency\u00a0allow terminally ill patients to use psilocybin<\/a>\u00a0as an investigational treatment without the fear of federal prosecution.<\/p>\n Americans Want Congress To Pass Marijuana Banking Bill, Poll From American Bankers Association Poll Finds<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Oklahoma House Passes Psilocybin Decriminalization And Research Bill, Sending It To Senate<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Oklahoma House of Representatives on Monday approved a bill to decriminalize low-level possession of psilocybin and promote research into the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic, sending it to the Senate. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Pae (R), cleared the chamber in a 62-30 vote. This comes one monthContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":53391,"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\/53390"}],"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=53390"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53392,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53390\/revisions\/53392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Oklahoma House Passes Psilocybin Decriminalization And Research Bill, Sending It To Senate<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"