A bill to create a therapeutic program for psilocybin in New Mexico has been approved by another New Mexico Senate Committee.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday advanced the legislation from Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D), with only one member of the body—Sen. Katy Duhigg (D)—opposed. The measure was unanimously approved by the Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee a little over a month ago.
Steinborn, a member of the panel, said: “The psilocybin has been proven medically effective in various ways.” “We developed this legislation…with the Department of Health. We spent much of the last six months going over this bill—every single word of this bill—with advocates [and] “Leading people up to the top executive branch”
The Medical Psilocybin Act, if passed, would permit patients who meet certain conditions to use the psychedelic under the supervision of licensed healthcare providers.
According to the measure, its goal is “to allow for the use of psilocybin as a beneficial treatment in a regulated medical system” including severe, resistant depression, PTSD and substance abuse disorders. Additional conditions could be approved by the state Department of Health.
The therapy would include a session of preparation, a session for administration and an integration session afterward.
Steinborn, a member of the panel, explained that “Unlike marijuana this could only be used in a clinical setting.” It only takes one or two doses. “There is no card and you cannot take this home.”
State health officials would establish guidelines for training clinicians and producers. These include dosage, the approved setting for administration, protocols for production and storage, and best practices. The state officials will also issue licenses to producers who wish to cultivate mushrooms or process psilocybin.
Under the proposed legislation, synthetic psilocybins and their analogs would be prohibited.
A nine member advisory board will make recommendations on additional qualification conditions, as well as regulations around dosage and preparation. A nine-member advisory board will also examine outside requests for additional qualification conditions.
SB 219 will also establish two state funds. Medical psilocybin Treatment Equity Fund would offset the costs of treating qualified patients that meet certain income standards set by Health Department. A medical psilocybin fund will provide grants for research on “any aspect of psilocybin’s medical use.”
In terms of cost, initially the bill allocated $2,000,000 from the State General Fund to the Department of Health to administer the Program, and an additional $1,000,000 each to the newly created research and equity funds.
A Wednesday hearing amendment removed the amount of the budget from the bill. Steinborn said that separate House legislation contains $2 million to fund the plan in case it is passed.
In the same amendment, a representative with experience was added to the advisory board.
A second amendment from Senator Joseph Cervantes, who chairs the Committee, aims to clarify that, while service providers of psilocybin would not be criminally prosecuted for their involvement in psychedelics but could be sued by medical malpractice, it is possible.
Panel members declined to consider an amendment proposed by Senator Duhigg, which would have included rules and regulations that were based on Oregon’s Therapeutic Psilocybin Program. Supporters noted that if the bill becomes law it already requires further regulation.
Duhigg, the only opponent of the bill’s passing by the committee after that proposal failed.
Steinborn stated that the technical amendment was adopted to fix a clause that had unintentionally caused a dispute over the legality psilocybin.
The sponsor of the bill announced the proposed legislation in late January. He said the plan “creates an carefully designed framework that will allow the Department of Health (to) establish a medical program to treat psilocybin usage.”
He said that it was important to ensure New Mexicans had access to all available treatments for behavioral health issues. This therapy, which has been proven effective, offers hope for people in desperate need.
The Republican senator Craig Brandt said that he was “excited” to be able offer the New Mexicans this groundbreaking medical treatment.
He stated that “Medical Psilocybin has proven to be an effective treatment for traumatic head injuries, depression and PTSD.” “As an ex-veteran, I am hopeful that the new medical treatment will be helpful to other veterans.”
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New Mexico’s lawmakers and Governor passed a resolution last year. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) endorsed, a resolution requesting that state officials research the therapeutic potential of psilocybin and explore the creation of a regulatory framework to provide access to the psychedelic.
The prior year, the House Health and Human Services Committee passed a bill that called for the creation of a state body to study the possibility of launching a psilocybin therapy program for certain patients. The measure was not furthered in 2023.
Meanwhile in New Mexico, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are urging a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit from licensed marijuana businesses that claim the agencies have been unconstitutionally seizing state-regulated marijuana products and detaining industry workers at interior checkpoints.
Separately late last year, the commissioners of New Mexico’s most populous County approved policy details for a plan that would stop testing government employees and punishing them for using marijuana outside work hours. Bernalillo County, where Albuquerque is located, appears to be the first public body in the state to implement such a reform following the state’s legalization of cannabis in 2021.
Ben Adlin contributed reporting.
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Dick Culbert provided the photo.
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