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The Colorado House of Representatives recently approved a bill that would align state statute to legalize MDMA prescriptions if and when the federal government ultimately permits such use, sending it to the Senate.<\/p>\n
The bipartisan and bicameral legislation\u2014sponsored by Reps. Patrick Neville (R) and David Ortiz (D), along with Sens. John Cooke (R) and Joann Ginal (D)\u2014passed third and final reading on the floor in a 53-2 vote last week. That action came just days after the bill was amended and approved<\/a> by the House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee.<\/p>\n\n Unfortunately for advocates, that panel also rejected separate legislation to create a psychedelics review panel to study substances like psilocybin and DMT and issue recommendations on possible policy changes.<\/p>\n The MDMA legislation<\/a> approved by the House, meanwhile, would legalize \u201cprescribing, dispensing, transporting, possessing, and using\u201d MDMA if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the substance as a prescription drug.<\/p>\n While the floor vote on final passage didn\u2019t include debate of the proposal, there was some brief discussion one day earlier when the bill was considered on second reading in the chamber.<\/p>\n Neville, one of the bill sponsors, said that MDMA has \u201cbeen proven to be extremely, extremely effective in treatment of PTSD.\u201d And so he wants to ensure that Colorado is prepared to provide that treatment option pending a federal policy change.<\/p>\n \u201cThe medication, what it truly does\u2014and I can speak to this personally having gone through therapy for PTSD\u2014is the medication is truly just a catalyst for the therapy to work because it opens the person up to actually explain about their circumstances,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n There were some technical amendments that had been adopted in committee, as well as one change to the language of the findings section of the bill. It now says that MDMA is \u201chighly effective if paired with talk therapy and counseling\u201d and notes that \u201cit is widely expected that the federal Food and Drug Administration will approve MDMA-assisted therapy for prescription use for PTSD as soon as 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 The Senate Health & Human Services Committee is now scheduled to take up the psychedelics legislation on April 25.<\/p>\n Activists in Colorado might feel encouraged to see the modest reform measure advancing, but not everyone is waiting around for the legislature to act. There are two campaigns seeking to place psilocybin legalization on the state\u2019s November ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n The psychedelics reform movement has spread rapidly throughout state legislatures this session.<\/p>\n For example, Maryland lawmakers sent a bill to the governor last week<\/a> that would create a state fund to provide \u201ccost-free\u201d access to psychedelics like psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury.<\/p>\n Also this month, Georgia lawmakers advanced a bipartisan resolution that calls for the formation of a House study committee to\u00a0investigate the therapeutic potential of psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0like psilocybin and make recommendations for reforms.<\/p>\n The governor of Utah last month signed a bill to create a task force to study and make recommendations\u00a0on the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs<\/a>\u00a0and possible regulations for their lawful use.<\/p>\n A Missouri House committee also held a hearing last month on a GOP-led bill to\u00a0legalize a wide range of psychedelics for therapeutic use<\/a>\u00a0at designated care facilities while further decriminalizing low-level possession in general.<\/p>\n Connecticut lawmakers are also taking interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, with a legislative committee passing a bill last month that would provide certain patients with access to psychedelic-assisted treatment<\/a> with substances like MDMA and psilocybin.<\/p>\n Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed a separate bill last year that includes language requiring the state to\u00a0carry out a study into the therapeutic potential<\/a>\u00a0of psilocybin mushrooms. A\u00a0workgroup<\/a>\u00a0has since been meeting\u00a0to investigate the issue.<\/p>\n The Washington State legislature recently sent a budget bill to the governor\u2019s desk that includes a proposal to\u00a0direct $200,000 in funding to support a new workgroup<\/a>\u00a0to study the possibility of legalizing psilocybin services in the state, including the idea of using current marijuana regulatory systems to track psychedelic mushrooms.<\/p>\n Last month, the Hawaii Senate 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 Also last month, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill to\u00a0decriminalize low-level possession of psilocybin<\/a>\u00a0and promote research into the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic.<\/p>\n Rhode Island lawmakers introduced\u00a0a pair of drug decriminalization bills last month<\/a>\u2014including one focused on psilocybin and buprenorphine that would authorize doctors to prescribe the psychedelic mushroom.<\/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 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 Meanwhile, a Pennsylvania bill meant to promote research into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin mushrooms for certain mental health conditions may be in jeopardy, with the sponsor saying that the chair of a key House committee is\u00a0expressing reservations even after the legislation<\/a>\u00a0was amended in an effort to build support.<\/p>\n New Hampshire lawmakers filed measures to\u00a0decriminalize psilocybin and all drugs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Legislation was\u00a0also enacted by the Texas legislature<\/a>\u00a0last year 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 At the congressional level, bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in January, urging that the agency\u00a0allow terminally ill patients to use psilocybin<\/a>\u00a0as an investigational treatment without the fear of federal prosecution.<\/p>\n New Congressional Bill Would Put Marijuana Penalties For Military Members On Par With Alcohol-Related Punishments<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Pretty Drugthings<\/a> on Unsplash.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Colorado House Passes Bill To Legalize MDMA After Federal Approval, Sending It To The Senate<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Colorado House of Representatives recently approved a bill that would align state statute to legalize MDMA prescriptions if and when the federal government ultimately permits such use, sending it to the Senate. The bipartisan and bicameral legislation\u2014sponsored by Reps. Patrick Neville (R) and David Ortiz (D), along with Sens.Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":54236,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54235"}],"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=54235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54237,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54235\/revisions\/54237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Colorado House Passes Bill To Legalize MDMA After Federal Approval, Sending It To The Senate<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"