As the fight for legalization in Utah gains steam, it looks like multiple parties – including a so-called mushroom “priest” – are at odds about how to proceed.
Steve Urquhart, a former state lawmaker, and his wife Sara, co-founded a “magic mushroom church,” known as The Divine Assembly. However, Urquhart is not in favor of a new state proposal to decriminalize psychedelics. He believes the bill is more about people making money than providing patient access.
“This bill, in its current form, just like the Medical Cannabis Act, it’s about the people making money – the people who are producing it,” said Urquhart to KUTV.
On the other hand, Desiree Hennessy, director of the Utah Patients Coalition, supports the proposed legislation, citing her own experience with psilocybin after the death of her son. The Utah Medical Association is opposed to the bill, believing that psychoactive substances should go through the FDA process. The sponsor of the bill is Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake.
Meanwhile, the Utah Medical Association is opposed to even the thought of state legislation.
“These psychoactive substances are on the fast track of the FDA, and we believe that is the process that these should go through,” said UMA executive director Michelle McOmber, “not for Utah to plant, grow, process and produce their own.”
