The California Senate passed a bill that would legalize possession and facilitate use of some psychedelics. It has now cleared a procedural obstacle, moving it closer to a vote in the final Assembly committee before possibly advancing to floor.
The Assembly Appropriations Committee advanced the measure by Sen. Scott Wiener on Wednesday to its suspense file. This is a formality in the legislative process that indicates it’s ready for a final decision to determine if it can be brought to the floor. The sponsor told Marijuana Moment Tuesday that he expected that to occur at a committee meeting around or after September 1.
Wiener had previously expressed concerns about the measure’s progress in the Assembly. At one point, he called it a “challenging path”. However, it had already passed through two committees prior to Wednesday’s procedural developments. The bill would need to be approved by both the committee and the full chamber before it could reach the governor.
The legislation was amended by a previous Assembly committee to delay the implementation of legalized facilitated communal use of psychedelics until “a framework for therapeutic use is developed, which includes community-based healing and facilitated and supported usage, risk reduction and other services related.”
The California Health and Human Services Agency was required to form a working group to study and make recommendations to the California Legislature about establishing a regulatory frame work for therapeutic use of psychoedelics within facilitated settings. The workgroup must submit a report with its findings and recommendations before January 1, 2025.
The bill is a narrower version of the measure the senator spearheaded last session. It passed the Senate, but was abandoned by the Assembly when members watered down the measure significantly.
SB 58 legalizes the possession, preparation, obtaining or transfer of specified amounts of psilocybin or psilocyn for personal use or facilited use. Unlike the previous version, the law would not legalize “synthetic psychedelics” like LSD or MDMA.
The bill will not only legalize personal possession, but also “community-based” healing involving entheogenic drugs. Originally, the bill included “group counselling” but a June author’s amendement removed all references to it. The legislation was also cleaned up with a number of technical amendments.
The legislation would also eliminate the state’s ban on drugs paraphernalia containing the substances covered.
This proposal has at least two major changes compared to the last session’s measure.
It excludes psychedelics derived from synthetic sources like LSD or MDMA and only legalizes those that come from plants and fungi.
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 clause mandating a future reforms study. 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 provides for the following limits on psychedelics:
DMT–2 Grams
Ibogaine–15 grams
Psilocybin – 2 grams or 4 ounces or “a plant or mushroom containing psilocybin”.
Psilocyn – 2 grams or 4 ounces or “a plant or mushroom containing psilocyn.”
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When the previous version was being debated in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, it was gutted to require only the study and eliminate the legalization provisions. Wiener responded to this by shelving the bill and holding it until 2023.
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.”
Advocates are optimistic that Wiener’s bill to legalize psychedelics will be passed this time around. California legislators have had more time since the original proposal to review it, and there is a lot more momentum for psychedelics legislation this session.
A California campaign has recently submitted a proposed initiative for the state’s ballot in 2024. The initiative would create a $5 Billion state agency that is tasked with financing and promoting research on psychedelics. It hopes that this will speed up federal legalization.
California officials have also approved a separate campaign for the collection of signatures in 2024 to support a ballot initiative that would legalize possession, sale and therapeutic use of Psilocybin.
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