California senators approved unanimously a bill bipartisan to create a psilocybin-pilot program for veterans and first responders.
The Senate Health Committee advanced Sens. Josh Becker and Brian Jones, with their amendments, were voted in by 7-0.
The proposed program would create a University of California pilot to develop and study “psilocybin-based services” in five different counties of California.
Pilot program would fall under the responsibility of universities for: “Protocol design and institutional review board approvals; training of facilitators of psilocybin, data collection and report”
As introduced in early January, the bill states that “each local pilot program would be required to partner up with local mental-health clinics, veteran facilities, hospice programs or other community providers who provide services and care for the target population.” The bill, as introduced in January, would mandate that the local pilot programs partner with community-based providers who provide services and care to their target population.
The state will establish an “Veterans and First Responders Research Pilot Special Fund” with continual funding to support the project.
SB 751 is a response to a crisis that we can’t ignore. Each day, 17.6 veterans commit suicide on average. First responders—those who run towards dangers to protect the rest of us—are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty,” Becker said. They are often traumatized individuals for whom existing mental health treatment doesn’t help.
He said that many people are looking for relief in underground, unregulated psilocybin sources or traveling to other countries to find it. This only exposes them to risk. This shows a major gap in the care we provide. The bill will help to address that gap in a responsible and safe manner.
A findings section of the legislation—which is also cosponsored by eight other lawmakers, including longtime psychedelics reform advocate Sen. Scott Wiener (D)—states that research “suggests that psilocybin and psilocyn, when used in a controlled setting, may offer significant benefits in treating mental health disorders, particularly those related to trauma and stress.”
The FDA has also granted breakthrough designation to a treatment using psilocybin for treating treatment-resistant depressive disorders.
It states that “Psilocybin must be made available to former first responders and veterans in a way that guarantees safety, effectiveness, and ethical standards. This includes use under qualified supervision.” California can run federally-regulated pilot tests of psilocybin in partnership with licensed community health care facilities to see if psilocybin is beneficial to first responders and veterans.
This new program will be aimed at “veterans, inactive first-responders, and those with end-of life distress or post-traumatic disorder as defined by the program criteria, and other conditions that are specified locally.”
The bill as filed states that UC would need to “compile and submit the pilot program outcomes, data analysis, and recommendations from the university partners” into a report that would need to be submitted to the legislature by January 15, 2030.
Before approving the bill, the Senate Health Committee made a number of technical changes, including clarifying eligibility requirements and definitions.
A committee report found that the bill was amended to include “initial local pilot reports to be presented to the UC as well as the Legislature and CalHHS Secretary, with the UC preparing a summary of the pilot results to present to CalHHS Secretary, to the Legislature,” and also required the UC to prepare a comprehensive final report containing the pilot’s outcomes for presentation to CalHHS Secretary, to Governor’s Office, to both the Legislature and CalHHS Secretary.
A hearing is set for Wednesday before the Senate Education Committee.
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California’s legislature is a complex place. Advocates and stakeholder groups have experienced both successes and failures in recent years.
Last year, for example, a Senate committee effectively killed a bill to legalize psychedelic service centers where adults 21 and older could access psilocybin, MDMA, mescaline and DMT in a supervised environment with trained facilitators.
In order to address concerns raised by Governor Jerry Brown, the “Regulated Therapeutic Access to Psychedelics Act”, was drafted. Gavin Newsom (D) in 2023 when he vetoed a broader proposal that included provisions to legalize low-level possession of substances such as psilocybin.
Assemblymember Marie Waldron, the leader on the Assembly’s side, has sponsored an independent psychedelics law last session that focused on research and created a framework to allow for regulated access therapeutically. The bill was unanimously supported by the Assembly in the past year.
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