Arizona Senate Committee Unanimously Approves Bill To Legalize Psilocybin Service Centers

An Arizona Senate committee has unanimously approved a bipartisan bill that would legalize psilocybin service centers where people could receive the psychedelic in a medically supervised setting.

Shortly after a coalition of Republican senators, first responders and military veterans held a press conference to raise attention to the benefits of psychedelic medicines, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee convened for a hearing where members discussed the psilocybin legislation, which is sponsored by the chairman, Sen. T. J. Shope (R), and voted to pass it 7-0.

The measure would allow the Department of Human Services (DHS) to license psilocybin-assisted therapy centers in the state, where trained facilitators could administer the psychedelic.

The senator’s bill would significantly expand on Arizona’s existing research-focused psychedelics law that provides $5 million in annual funding to support studies into psilocybin therapy.

Under the new bill, an Arizona Psilocybin Advisory Board would be established, comprised of members appointed by the governor and legislative leaders. Representatives of the attorney general’s office and DHS, as well as military veterans, first responders, scientists with experience with psilocybin and physicians would be among the members.

Come with us tomorrow as First Responders, Veterans Join Senator @TJShope to Highlight Effort to Legalize Psilocybin Mushrooms as Treatment for Mental Health Conditions. Please show up to support. #psychedelic #sb1570 #MentalHealth # pic.twitter.com/MLACBQS1Lr

— Psychedelic Association of Arizona (@48paaz) February 12, 2024

The board would be responsible for establishing training criteria for psilocybin service center staff, making recommendations on the implementation of the law, and studying the science and policy developments related to psychedelics.

By July 31, 2025 and each year after that, members would need to submit an annual report on the status of “medical, psychological and scientific” studies into the safety and efficacy of psilocybin, as well as a “long-term strategic plan” on ensuring that psychedelic-assisted therapy remains “safe, accessible and affordable” to people 21 and older.

Medical directors of psychedelic-assisted therapy centers would need to complete at least 132 hours of training under an approved program, which would need to involve lessons on the historical and traditional use of psychedelics, safety and ethics, facilitation skills and preparation, administration and integration.

The bill, which is cosponsored by Senate President Warren Petersen (R), states that DHS would need to start accepting applications for psychedelics centers by January 1, 2026. The department would need to promulgate rules for the program, but it would be barred from requiring specific eligible conditions for participation in psilocybin services.

Regulators could also license psilocybin centers that are carrying out clinical trials into the psychedelic that could lead to a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug.

“This bill is purely about mental health. It’s about addressing our mental health crisis,” Josh Mozell, an attorney and president of the Psychedelic Association of Arizona, testified at Tuesday’s hearing. “We need to offer some hope and we need to give our doctors options for treatment.”

“We need to do more for these folks who do so much for us,” Sue Sisley, a psychedelics researcher licensed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to cultivate psilocybin for study purposes, said. “With treatment with psilocybin-assisted therapy, it’s giving us all hope.”

Meanwhile, last month an Arizona House committee approved a separate bill to protect the $5 million in funding that’s already been designated for psilocybin research from being redistributed amid a state budget deficit.

The fund was enacted last year under an appropriations package signed by the governor that mandated research into the medical potential of psilocybin mushrooms for a variety of conditions.

A Psilocybin Research Advisory Council that was established under DHS met for the first time last November prior an open application period for potential grant recipients.

The grant money must be distributed to applicants with proposals focused on clinical trials that are meant to identify therapeutic applications that could receive FDA approval for treatment of 13 listed conditions.

Arizona one of several states where lawmakers have worked to promote research into psychedelics amid growing public interest in expanding therapeutic access and ending criminalization.

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On Tuesday, for example, an Indiana House committee approved a Republican-led bill that would fund clinical research trials into psilocybin that has already cleared the full Senate.

Over the weekend, a New Mexico Senate committee unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution requesting that state officials research the therapeutic potential of psilocybin and explore the creation of a regulatory framework to provide access to the psychedelic.

An Alaska Senate panel took testimony last week on a plan that would create a state task force to explore how to legalize and regulate the therapeutic use of psychedelics in the state.

Bipartisan California lawmakers also recently introduced a bill to legalize psychedelic service centers where adults 21 and older could access psilocybin, MDMA, mescaline and DMT in a supervised environment with trained facilitators.

A Nevada joint legislative committee held a hearing with expert and public testimony on the therapeutic potential of substances like psilocybin last month. Law enforcement representatives also shared their concerns around legalization—but there was notable acknowledgement that some reforms should be enacted, including possible rescheduling.

The governor of Massachusetts recently promoted the testimony of activists who spoke in favor of her veterans-focused bill that would, in part, create a psychedelics work group to study the therapeutic potential of substances such as psilocybin.

A New York lawmaker recently introduced a bill that would create a pilot program to provide psilocybin therapy to 10,000 people, focusing on military veterans and first responders, while the legislature also considers broader psychedelics reform.

A Missouri House committee considered a proposal last month that would legalize the medical use of psilocybin in the state and mandate clinical trials exploring the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic.

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Photo courtesy of Dick Culbert.