California Democratic Senator says he’ll file a revised psychedelics legislation next year with an Assembly Republican. The bill will focus on regulated therapeutic access, a departure from the prior legislation that sought to legalize substances such as psilocybin more broadly. This was a change in direction for his previous legislation that sought to broaden its scope.
Scott Wiener, a Democratic Senator from California who plans to introduce a bill next year in collaboration with Assemblymember Marie Waldron, a former leader of the GOP’s minority caucus will make sure that it is crafted to reflect the Governor’s veto. Gavin Newsom’s (D) rejection of his psychedelics measure last month was a message to the public.
Newsom, who has touted the “profound therapeutic potential” of certain psychedelics for treating severe mental health disorders, said he vetoed SB 58, because it would have eliminated criminal penalties for cultivation and possession without first implementing guidelines to regulate access. He called on the legislature to “immediately start work to establish regulated treatment guidelines that include dosing guidelines, therapeutic guidelines and rules to prevent exploitation during guided therapies, as well as medical clearance for no underlying psychoses.”
Wiener has accepted the Governor’s invitation. He wrote in a blog post on X, that he would be sponsoring a “bipartisan bill allowing regulated therapeutic psychedelic usage as in Colorado”, without legalization elements “outside of the regulated context.”
By vetoing the psychedelics legislation , @GavinNewsom has signaled that we are eager to move forward. I will work with @MarieWaldron75 to develop bipartisan legislation next year that allows regulated therapeutic use of psychedelics, as Colorado does. However, there won’t be any decriminalization beyond the regulated context. pic.twitter.com/aDskrncEcS
Senator Scott Wiener November 3, 2020 HTML0
Colorado’s psychedelics legislation, which was implemented after voters approved a reform measure at the ballot box last year, doesn’t focus on therapeutic access. It legalizes psychedelics such as psilocybin and mescaline without imposing any explicit limits on possession. Separately, it gives regulators the task of establishing a regulatory structure for their supervised use in “healing centres.”
Wiener stated that “per the Governor’s message, we will focus our bill on providing access regulated psychedelic therapy administered by licensed and vetted facilitators.” “The issue of decriminalizing possession and personal use will be left to subsequent efforts.”
California’s combat veterans and first responders are affected by PTSD, depression cluster headaches & many other illnesses that have no existing treatment. We will continue to fight for access to these new psychedelic treatments.
Senator Scott Wiener November 3, 2020 HTML0
He said that many combat veterans and first responders in California suffer from PTSD, depression cluster headaches & similar ailments. Existing treatments are not working for them. “They need these breakthrough psychedelic treatments & we will keep fighting for them.”
Newsom left the door open for working with legislators to “consider the framework for possible broader decriminalization in the future once the impacts are fully considered and implemented, as well as the dosing, the best practices, and the safety guardrails.”
The veto of SB 58 was a major disappointment for advocates, who believed that the measure had been thoroughly vetted and re-evaluated over two sessions. They note that Newsom was a long-time advocate of drug policy reforms, including marijuana legalization, before it received widespread bipartisan support.
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The governor also vetoed a harm reduction bill sponsored by Wiener that would have set up a pilot program in the state for overdose prevention centers.
There are currently two campaigns working to place psychedelics on the ballot in California for 2024. Three campaigns were active, but last week one withdrew their initiative to establish a $5 billion state funding agency for psychedelics.
Decriminalize California is another campaign that has been trying to qualify for the ballot next year. received approval from officials in California to start collecting signatures to support its initiative to legalize adult-use psilocybin. The group’s activists have attempted to place the reform on the ballot twice in previous cycles but failed due to difficulties in gathering signatures during the pandemic.
In California, a different campaign is also underway. Advocates have recently filed a ballot initiative that would grant a right to “use psychedelics in medical, therapeutic, and spiritual settings” on a doctor’s recommendation. The initiative would allow adults to use and possess the substances at home, as well as grow entheogenic fungi and plants on private property.
Newsom, while vetoing the psychedelics bill from Wiener last month, did sign legislation that allows doctors in the State to immediately begin prescribing currently illicit drugs such as psilocybin or MDMA if those drugs are federally rescheduled.
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Photo courtesy Wikimedia/Mushroom Observer.
The original Marijuana Moment article California senator plans to file therapeutic psychedelics bill with Republican support following governor’s veto of broad legalization first appeared.
