California Senate passes bill to legalize possession and facilitation of psychedelics use

The Senate has approved a California bill that would legalize possession of certain psychedelics, and facilitate their use.

The Senate approved the legislation of Sen. Scott Wiener, (D), on the floor by a vote 21-16. It now goes to the Assembly.

It was passed by the Appropriations Committee without a hearing earlier this month and had been previously approved by the Public Safety Committee in March. The bill was approved by the Public Safety Committee earlier this month, and cleared the Appropriations Committee without a hearing.

SB 58 legalizes the possession, preparation, obtaining or transfer of specified amounts of psilocybin or psilocyn as well as DMT, mescaline, ibogaine or ibogaine for personal use or facilited use. It is worth noting that “synthetic psychedelics” like LSD and MDMA will not be legalized. This is in contrast to the provisions of Wiener’s previous legislation.

The bill will not only legalize personal possession, but also “group counseling” and “community-based healing”, involving entheogenic drugs.

In a Wednesday press release, Wiener stated that this is a very hopeful step for all veterans and those who want to use psychedelics in order to treat PTSD, depression, anxiety or to simply improve their health. After extensive consultation with stakeholders, Wiener said, “We were very close to decriminalizing the promising treatments during the last legislative session. We made changes that limited our proposal to only naturally occurring substances, while retaining quantity limits. This ensures these five naturally occurring substances are used for personal purposes only.”

Our bill (SB58) was passed by the Senate to decriminalize 5 naturally occurring psychedelics: psilocybin & psilocin; DMT, Ibogaine & mescaline.

These substances don’t cause addiction & are effective in treating mental illness /addiction. Stop criminalizing them.

Senator Scott Wiener 24 May 2023 HTML0

We shouldn’t criminalize people who use these non-addictive drugs for personal reasons. “I look forward to working together with my colleagues to alleviate the suffering of many people,” he said.

The legislation would also eliminate the state’s ban on drugs paraphernalia containing the substances covered.

The prior version of Wiener’s bill had to pass the Appropriations committee last session and also be considered by two policy committees, Public Safety and Health, whereas the current measure only needs to be heard before the first panel. This highlights its accelerated path to the floor.

This bill has at least two major changes compared to the last session’s measure.

It excludes synthetic psychedelics such as LSD and MDMA and only focuses on those derived from fungi or 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.

The second major change from the version of last year is that it no longer contains a requirement for a study exploring future reforms. The senator said the study language wasn’t necessary, given the volume of research already done and that is still being conducted.

The “allowable amounts” section of Bill prescribes these psychedelic possession limits:

DMT–2 Grams

Ibogaine–15 grams

Psilocybin – 2 grams or 4 ounces or “a plant or mushroom containing psilocybin”.

Psilocyn – 2 grams or up to four ounces (of “a plant or mushroom containing psilocyn”).

—

Marijuana Moment tracks more than 1,000 cannabis and psychedelics bills, as well as drug policy legislation in state legislatures. Patreon supporters who pledge at least $25/month gain access to our interactive charts, maps and hearing calendar.

Discover more about our marijuana bills tracker. Become a Patreon supporter to gain access.

—

was gutted by a major Assembly committee when the previous version was being pushed through the legislature. The study was the only requirement, and the legalization provisions were eliminated. Wiener responded to this by shelving the bill and putting it off until 2023.

Meanwhile, a separate bill from Assemblymember Marie Waldron (R) was introduced in February to legalize psychedelics-assisted therapy for military veterans.

Specifically, it would allow licensed clinical counselors to administer controlled substances–including but not limited to psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, ketamine and ibogaine–to veterans for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury or addiction.

The treatment will require a minimum 30 sessions, each lasting 12 hours. At least two counselors must be present at each session.

Advocates are optimistic that Wiener’s bill to legalize psychedelics will pass this time. California legislators have had more time since the original proposal to consider it, and there is a lot more momentum for psychedelics legislation this session.

As an example, the Colorado Governor. Jared Polis has signed a bill to create an administrative framework for legal psychedelics in accordance with a voter-approved measure.

Minnesota lawmakers passed a health bill omnibus that includes provisions for the creation of a psychedelics Task Force to prepare Minnesota for possible legalization.

A North Carolina House Committee approved a bill this month to create a grant program of $5 million to support research on the potential therapeutic benefits of psilocybin, MDMA. The board will oversee the project.

The governor of Washington State signed a bill to encourage research into psilocybin, and to create a program for therapeutic access to psychedelics in mental health treatments.

Last month, a Nevada Senate Committee approved a revised version of a bill that would establish a new group to study psychedelics as well as develop a plan for regulated access to therapeutic purposes.

Last month, the Hawaii Senate passed a bill to establish an advisory council that would examine possible regulations to allow access to federal “breakthrough therapy” such as psilocybin or MDMA.

Based on statistical modelling of policy trends, an analysis published last year in the American Medical Association journal concluded that most states will legalize psychedelics before 2037.

A national survey published in March revealed that a majority of U.S. citizens support the legalization of psychedelic therapy, and are also in favor decriminalizing substances such as psilocybin or MDMA.