Lawmakers in nearly a dozen states are already pursuing psychedelics reform legislation for the 2023 session, with proposals ranging from legalizing psilocybin for therapeutic use to decriminalizing natural plants and fungi across the board.
This surprisingly thorough post describes all of the legislation planned in multiple states including spots as disparate as Montana and New Jersey.
Near and dear to our heart is New York’s plan:
New York
New York lawmakers recently pre-filed a bill for 2023 to legalize certain psychedelics like psilocybin and ibogaine for adults 21 and older.
Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (D) is sponsoring the legislation, which would amend state statute to make legal the “possession, use, cultivation, production, creation, analysis, gifting, exchange, or sharing by or between natural persons of twenty-one years of age or older of a natural plant or fungus-based hallucinogen.”
DMT, ibogaine, mescaline, psilocybin and psilocyn would fall under the definition of “natural plant or fungus-based hallucinogens” that would be legalized by the bill.
Further, the legislation would authorize people to engage in psychedelic services “with or without remuneration,” as well as use the entheogens in religious ceremonies.
Rosenthal separately introduced a bill in 2021 that would create a “psychedelic research institute” tasked with studying the therapeutic potential of the substances for certain conditions and making policy recommendations.
That year, she and Assemblymember Pat Burke (D) also sponsored another measure to legalize the medical use of psilocybin for certified patients in clinical settings.
This is part of a larger trend of local and state decriminalization measures, as well as a congressional caucus dedicated to psychedelics therapy and the DEA’s call for significant manufacturing of psychedelic compounds for research purposes.
