California Assembly approves psychedelics legalization bill with amendments, sending it back to the Senate for final passage

California Assembly approves psychedelics bill passed by the Senate. It sends it back to opposite chamber to get their approval on recent amendments.

In a 42-11 vote, the Assembly approved the legislation of Sen. Scott Wiener. This is a major victory for supporters after a previous version of the psychedelics measure passed by the Senate but was unable to pass the Assembly. The bill would allow adults over 21 to possess and cultivate small amounts of certain entheogenic fungi and plants.

In a press statement, Wiener stated that California’s veterans, first-responders, and other people struggling with PTSD and depression deserve access to this promising plant medicine. “SB 58 is a prudent measure after we incorporated the feedback of three years of intense engagement with a wide range of stakeholders.”

He said: “We know that these substances are non-addictive, and they have tremendous potential in treating some of the most difficult conditions that drive our nation’s crisis in mental health.” It’s time for people to stop being criminalized when they use psychedelics as a form of healing or well-being.

SB 58 has already passed through the Senate and is now ready for final approval.

— Senator Scott Wiener 6 September 2023

It is not yet clear if this new version will become law. Along the way to the floor of the Assembly, members adopted several amendments, including the removal of ibogaine, the lowering of possession limits, the elimination of sharing provisions, and the pushing back of the legalization date to 2025. This was done to allow a working group to make recommendations about creating regulated access for psychedelics.

These latest changes were approved during a hearing of the Assembly Appropriations Committee held last week.

The California Health and Human Services Agency would be responsible, under the revised bill, for the formation of the workgroup that will “study and provide recommendations on the establishment a framework governing therapeutic use of mescaline, ibogaine, DMT and Psilocybin, including the facilitation or supported use.”

The legislation will not allow adults over 21 to use ibogaine for personal purposes, as was originally proposed. The revised legislation reduced the possession limits for all substances that will be legalized on January 1, 2025 by at least 50% compared to original legislation.

The “allowable amounts” section of , as amended, allows the following limits on psychedelics:

Mescaline: 4.4 grams
DMT: One gram
Psilocybin : 1 gram or up to an ounce of a “plant or fungus containing psilocybin”.
Psilocyn : 1 gram or up to an ounce of a “plant or fungus containing psilocyn.”

The bill also states that adults can possess “amounts of spores and mycelium that are capable of producing a permissible amount of a plant, fungus or other substance that is controlled” which would be legalized.

Jesse Gould is a veteran and the founder of Heroic Hearts Projects. He said: “Everyday that criminal penalties prevent vets from accessing psychedelic plants medicines, it’s a day when their lives are in danger.” “Psychedelics healed the unseen wounds of my War on Terror service after traditional medicine failed to heal me for years. Since then, I have dedicated my life in educating veterans on the safe and effective usage of psychedelics. “Removing criminal penalties will not harm this work but help it.”

The bill will also legalize personal possession and cultivation, as well as “community-based” healing involving entheogenic drugs. The bill previously contained “group counseling”, but an amendment by the author that was adopted in July removed all references to it. The legislation was also cleaned up with a number of technical amendments.

Recently, the legislation was revised to allow people to share psychedelics in a therapeutic or facilitative context. The advocates had hoped gifting outside of regulated environments would become more widely legalized, but that appears to be impossible without additional legislative action.

This bill differs from the previous version of the last session in that it does not include synthetic psychedelics such as LSD or MDMA on the list. Instead, the focus is only on substances derived from fungi and plants.

Wiener tried to reach a compromise to save the previous version of the law near the end 2022 session by removing the synthetics to try to change the opposition of law enforcement to neutrality on the bill. Advocates opposed the move and it ultimately failed to produce a viable proposal.

The bill also excludes peyote from its list of legalized substances, in response to the concerns expressed by advocates and indigenous groups regarding the dangers of over-harvesting cacti which have been used ceremonially.

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When asked whether he expected that Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has said that he will support the bill this session if the Assembly passes it and it reaches his desk. Wiener told Marijuana Moment back in June: “It’s unclear” to me because the governor “is not expressing an opinion pro or contra.”

Recently, the Assembly Appropriations Committee approved a Senate passed bill intended to strengthen protections for employees who use cannabis outside of work. The committee adopted the technical amendments from Sen. Steven Bradford, (D). If the Assembly approves the bill it will be sent back to the Senate to receive approval.

The bill would expand current employment protections that were enacted during the last session, which prohibit employers from penalizing workers who use cannabis according to state law while on the job.

State Attorney General Rob Bonta announced last month a new program aimed at curbing the illicit market. He also claimed that the high cannabis tax rates in the state are partly responsible for the continued illegal sales.

Documents obtained by Marijuana Moment reveal that Bonta’s office has been soliciting input from local governments and cannabis industry groups in order to draft an opinion regarding the legal risks associated with allowing interstate marijuana commerce while federal prohibition continues.