California has filed an initiative proposal for 2024’s ballot. The initiative would create a $5billion state agency that would be responsible for funding and promoting research on psychedelics. It hopes that this will speed up federal legalization.
While a separate campaign collects signatures to legalize psilocybin on the ballot, the “TREAT Act” advocates are looking for funding for this novel measure that would not decriminalize or legalize psychedelics directly in California.
The campaign, led by a team that has previously been successful in promoting ballot initiatives related stem cell research, is instead aiming to establish an agency called the Treatment, Research, Education, Access and Therapies Institute (TREAT), which will identify ways to advance science and the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics for serious mental conditions such as depression and addiction.
The proposed amendment to the State Constitution states that “the TREAT Institute won’t be your typical government agency. It will be an innovative and effective organization, which will provide a constant, sustainable funding source.”
“TREAT is not a decriminalization, or legalization initiative; nor is it an initiative that is driven by elected officials,” the report continues. It is an opportunity for citizens to change the law.
The initiative’s document states that it is intended to create a funding organization to “build all the pieces of this psychedelic eco-system necessary for this paradigm change in mental healthcare,” and the ultimate goal is to gain Food and Drug Administration approval and make these valuable therapeutics available to everyone.
It says that “with FDA approval, these drugs could be rescheduled to become eligible for health insurance coverage; thereby legalizing therapeutic use and accessibility.”
The Institute will fund psychedelic research with $500 million per year through revenue bonds issued by government agencies, rather than taxes. The agency will be self-funded. Deals are being made with grant recipients for intellectual property rights.
Once the FDA approves psychedelics for therapeutic use, the agency will also help create “care programs” for psilocybin or MDMA in California.
Grants are needed to support research on the benefits and risks of psychedelic assisted therapy for addiction, anxiety and depression, suicidality and post-traumatic disorder (PTSD), chronic pain, acute pain, and other disorders like obsessive-compulsive disorder and anorexia. The campaign’s outreach will start by focusing on these substances and their potential for first responders, military veterans, and other disorders.
Deb Hubers (COO of TREAT) told Marijuana Moment Friday that the campaign had been in discussions with leaders of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. The team also spoke with Oregon advocates who were behind a 2020 ballot measure to legalize psilocybin.
After filing the initiative, the campaign has set a goal of raising $11 million in order to cover the projected costs for signature collection and outreach.
Hubers stated that their measure is “very thorough, well-thought out and well-researched.”
“I believe the most important parts of our name are part of it, right?” She said that TREAT stood for treatment, research, education, access, and therapies. “Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration is very important for us.”
Another psychedelics initiative is vying to be on the ballot in California next year. Decriminalize California has recently received approval from officials of the state to begin collecting signatures to support its initiative to legalize adult-use psilocybin. The group has tried to get the reform on the ballot twice before, but failed due to the difficulties they had collecting signatures during the coronavirus epidemic.
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TREAT’s Hubers stated that the two campaigns do not coordinate actively, but she does see areas of “overlap”, such as their interest in providing veterans with mental illnesses access to psychedelic treatments.
She said, “We want to do it in the most ethical and responsible way possible.”
The Attorney General’s Office is currently accepting public comments on the initiative. After last week’s filing, interested parties will have 30 days to comment. The campaign then has five days to make changes and resubmit the measure. After that, the attorney general has 30 days to create the title of the ballot, its summary and its question.
Amy Daly told Marijuana Moment via email that we would have 180 days at this point to collect the signatures of almost 1 million voters. If we have enough valid signatures when we submit them, we will qualify for the ballot.
To qualify for the ballot next year, the campaign must collect 874,641 valid voter signatures.
Huber said he was confident that Californians will support the measure, if it is qualified for the ballot. He cited a recent national poll showing that the majority of Americans are in favor of legalizing psychedelic assisted therapy.
A bill to implement a similar reform is being advanced in the legislature against the backdrop of the two psychedelics campaigns. The legislation, led by Senator Scott Wiener (D), would legalize possession and facilitation by adults of certain entheogenic drugs. The bill has already passed in the Senate, and is advancing through the Assembly committee process before it could reach the floor.
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Photo by Dick Culbert.
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