Last week, a Missouri Republican announced his intention to introduce a law to legalize and regulate the psilocybin treatment for certain mental health conditions. He framed the proposal as a way to address the high suicide rate and trauma experienced by veterans of the United States.
On Thursday, Rep. Matt Overcast, a lawyer and former U.S. Air Force serviceman, discussed the measure with a few veterans and advocates in a video conference call. Overcast has referred to the working draft at various times, even though the legislation has not been filed yet.
According to the lawmaker, if the bill passes, it would legalize psilocybin treatment for people over 21 who have post-traumatic anxiety disorder (PTSD), substance abuse disorders, major depressive disorder or any other condition that can be treated by the psychedelic based on clinical trials registered at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Under the supervision of the Department of Mental Health of California, participants would need to establish a relationship that is established with a medical professional who can certify their need for end-of-life treatment or that they are diagnosed with a qualifying condition.
A licensed healthcare professional would be required to supervise the administration of psilocybin. This includes doctors, psychologists or professional counselors, licensed marital therapists or family therapists as well as advanced nurses.
Two other bills, already introduced in Missouri’s House and Senate would legalize an even more narrow program, but only for veterans who are enrolled in psilocybin clinical studies, although the same conditions would still apply.
Overcast’s new legislation differs in large part by eliminating the veteran and clinical study requirements. The goal is to make more widely accessible what he sees as a promising alternative therapy to help adults manage and overcome conditions that negatively affect—or even claim— their lives.
He said: “There is no language that says it only has to be veterans. It has to be law-enforcement.” “This stands to benefit veterans, law enforcement, firefighters, potentially attorneys…It’s fantastic as far as the potential impact this could have on society as a whole.”
The freshman Republican expressed some concerns about publicly supporting reform of psychedelics, but believed it was an important issue to pursue.
He said “It is psilocybin, I won’t lie.” I was like, this probably isn’t the right thing for me to discuss with my constituent base…Anytime you’re talking, if you will, alternative therapies, drug reform, whatever, people have their biases, right?”
But, he continued, “I can’t count on both hands how many friends I’ve lost—and, you know, I too, if we’re being honest, could probably benefit from these therapies.”
Overcast reported that he has non-epileptic psychological seizures. He explained that it was a manifestation of his PTSD. As an attorney and a father who is active, this is a nightmare.
He said that there would be “tight” restrictions on the program’s medical requirements. This isn’t what you think it is. legalizing He said. “This bill is pro-life, no doubt about it. It is our goal. “We want to give people choices so we can reduce the number public servants that succumb to their mental health issues, addictions, and whatever else.”
The representative was accompanied by several advocates who spoke for legalizing access to facilitated Psilocybin. The group included former St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Kim Kowalski as well as Annie Stanfield, vice commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Washington, Missouri, Carl Shepard who was a U.S. Army vet from the Iraq War, and Will Wisner executive director of Grunt Style Foundation. Grunt Style Foundation provides veteran assistance and promotes psychedelics in mental health treatment. Eapen Thampy, the founder of Psychedelic Missouri who has been a supporter of previous reform efforts and a lobbyist, organized the call.
Kowalski said alternative therapies—in her case, cannabis—helped “reset” her brain after being exposed to trauma both in work and as a line-of-duty-death widow. She added that she is “forever thankful” she didn’t take the pharmaceutical route, as she associates it with suicidal ideas in veterans and police.
She said, “We know from science that psilocybin can be a viable treatment option and save lives.” “I am tired. “I am old. And it is time to move this forward, because the numbers are too high…Let’s save lives and quit talking about it.”
Carl Shepard is a Columbia resident, a combat veteran, and a military service member who has been diagnosed with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries. He also said he avoided the pharmaceuticals prescribed by doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Shepard explained, “I had a chaotic life when I came out of the military.” “Psychedelics were a part of the journey that led me to my current state, you might say. I feel like my journey was transformed and blessed.
Stanfield’s main objective at VFW was to ensure that health care providers had access to accurate information on psilocybin. She works for a company that produces hemp and believes people in the hemp industry are often more knowledgeable about cannabinoids.
When she talks to veterans, she said, “I can sit there and tell them, ‘Hey, talk to your doctor about this,’ and their doctor is completely ignorant about anything cannabis because it’s been taboo for so long.”
Stanfield added, “My concern is getting the education out.” “Doctors and all these therapists and people who are going to be the facilitators—how do we get that information into their hands so that they’re comfortable and knowledgable of this?”
Will Wisner is a veteran of the U.S. military and a founder of Grunt Style Foundation. He spent 17 years with his colleagues, who all suffered from severe neurological disorders, rare cancers and other illnesses. He said that around 2009 “the VA, at that point, was under pretty enormous pressure to get patients through and get diagnosed.”
He said: “It was my impression that the standard diagnosis was a psycho-social one. This led to a polypharmacy of SSRIs, benzodiazepines and antidepressants.” “A lot have side effects. The most common one is suicidal thoughts.”
Wisner was forced to follow his own path of healing. He noted that psychedelics had played an important role.
Wisner stated that Overcast’s bill was preferable to other psilocybin legislation in Missouri because it does not require participants to enroll in a study.
He said, “This is another way of kicking the can down to the next generation.” “It kills people.”
He and the other veterans in the panel said that they also oppose provisions of psychedelics legislation which require patients to first try other treatments, before gaining access to psychedelics.
“I’m not sure if this is in the bill or not.” It’s not uncommon to hear about [how] Wisner explained that you must exhaust all other options before you are eligible to access this option. He said that a requirement such as that could push people to pharmaceuticals.
Overcast said initially on the video that his bill requires “you to have exhausted other remedies first.” Overcast clarified later that the draft text only says that veterans “must have considered all other treatments options” with their health care provider.
Thampy was the lobbyist in charge of organizing Thursday’s event. He noted that more Missourians would be able to participate because Overcast’s upcoming bill does not require patients to enroll in a clinical trial registered with the federal government.
The other two psychedelics legislation, HB829 by Rep. Richard West(R) and SB90 by Sen. Stephen Webber(D), would also require that all veterans who participated in the program were also enrolled in FDA registered clinical trials.
Thampy, who was on the phone with the legislators, said that the legislation they filed is “incredibly restrictive” and called the requirement for clinical trials “bizarre”.
Because of the one provision in this legislation, he said “it means that the potential access in Missouri will probably be less than fifty people.”
It’s not clear how many veterans will be able access psilocybin trials through the two other bills. However, it is safe to assume that Overlook’s legislation would allow more patients to benefit from the drug.
Missouri lawmakers approved $5 million of the state settlement money for opioid studies to determine if psilocybin could help treat opioid addiction disorders and reduce overdose deaths.
Initially the provision was for twice that amount—$10 million—and was was briefly earmarked to study ibogaine as a potential treatment rather than psilocybin. Later, the line was changed to emphasize psilocybin. However, before it passed, all references to specific substances were removed.
The line as passed by legislators is ambiguous. The section originally stated that the money would be used “to research ibogaine, and its potential to treat addiction to opioids.” Later it changed to “to investigate psilocybin, and its potential to treat addiction to opioids.” The final version of the measure states that the money will be used “for opioid research, and its ability treat opioid addiction.”
The Department of Mental Health wanted to spend the money on psilocybin.
A document issued by the agency last year stated that “the purpose of this Request for Information is to get written feedback from the vendor’s community for use in preparing a Request for Proposal for Opioid Related Research of Psilocybin for State of Missouri.”
Rep. Cody Smith, R, sponsored HB 2010. Rep. Chad Perkins, R, a former police officer, added ibogaine for a short time.
Two committees of the House of Representatives also advanced separate legislation last year that would have allowed veterans to use psilocybin, but the lawmakers did not have enough time during the session to discuss the measure.
HB1830 allowed veterans with qualifying conditions such as PTSD and substance use disorders who are at least 21 years old to obtain psilocybin in a laboratory. The legislation was modeled off a separate House bill that advanced to the floor of that chamber a year earlier but was not ultimately enacted.
Washington State Bill Will Legalize Facilitated psilocybin Service Under A New Two-Track Programme Focused On Wellness And Therapy
Photo by Wikimedia/Mushroom observer.