Earlier this week, A Republican Utah legislator put forth a bill that would establish a task force to review and make suggestions concerning the therapeutic ceiling of psychedelic substances and feasible ordinances for their lawful consumption.
Representative Brady Brammer (R-UT) filed the bill; While there’s nothing in the verbiage of the draft that explicitly notes psychedelics, it’s heavily implied—and Brammer distinctively talked in a sit-down about the bill as a tool to explore the use of drugs like magic mushrooms (i.e., psilocybin.)
The Utah drug reform bill would establish a Mental Illness Psychotherapy Drug Task Force that would be mandated to “review and establish guidance on substances that may help in treating mental conditions.” The psychotherapy substances that the panel would consider are defined as controlled drugs that are “not presently ready for legal consumption” and “may be able to minister, manage, or relieve symptoms from mental conditions.”
This is the latest instance of magic mushroom reform reaching state legislatures, including those that are contemporarily red, as the provincial decriminalization campaign persists in taking the nation by storm; more people have become aware of studies into the therapeutic prospect of substances psilocybin and mescaline.
Brammer’s measure drafts would be assigned to the task force, including a psychiatrist, psychologist, Utah Medical Association spokesperson, a researcher, a person with a civil liberties association, a patient with a background in psychotherapy substances, and more.
“The task force shall deliver evidence-based guidance on any psychotherapy substance that the task force deems advantageous for psychotherapy when treating mental conditions,” the syntax of the measure describes.
Guidance should encompass the types of ailments that a given substance may treat, dosage and management, training and permitting, how to obtain the drug, safety prerequisites, data tracking, and “suggested regulations the Utah Legislature should review if the psychotherapy drug is made lawful for treating mental conditions.”
The task force would need to submit a statement with its guidance to the Health and Human Services Interim Committee by Halloween, October 31, 2022.
“We need practical tools to treat mental conditions,” Brammer informed a Utah publication. “If magic mushrooms can be [medically] helpful and safely distributed, we need them in our repertoire.”
“Utah has some of the most sophisticated researchers in the world of psychiatry and neurosciences by the way of Huntsman Mental Health Institute,” he expressed. “This measure seeks to level that knowledge, along with other professionals grappling with mental conditions, to reevaluate the research outcomes, and if necessary, make changes on how to safely dispense these medicines under the care of certified physicians.”
Amid a mental health and drug crisis, more legislators are expressing concern about taking a new approach to therapy that might involve magic mushrooms or peyote buttons. Others are more generally concerned about decriminalizing or legalizing the aforementioned substances.
Earlier this week, for instance, bipartisan congressional legislators sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), demanding that the agency permit terminally ill patients to use psilocybin as a treatment without the worry of national prosecution.
Last week, Virginia legislators put forth measures to decriminalize the possession of magic mushrooms.
A Kansas legislator also recently filed a measure to legalize the low-level possession and growth of psilocybin mushrooms.
In Missouri, a Republican administrator has introduced a measure to give residents with serious ailments legal access to a range of psychedelic substances like psilocybin, ibogaine, and LSD through an updated version of the state’s existing right-to-try law.
In Michigan, a pair of state senators introduced a measure in September to legalize the ownership, farming, and dispensing of various plant- and fungi-derived substances like psilocybin and mescaline.
Stickyleaf will keep you updated on the magic mushroom happenings in Utah as they progress.