New Mexico Governor signed into law a bill to create a therapeutic program for psilocybin in the state.
The proposal of Sen. Jeff Steinborn, (D), was approved by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham gave her final approval Monday.
Medical Psilocybin Act allows patients who meet certain conditions to use the psychedelic under supervision of licensed healthcare providers.
According to the measure, the goal is “to allow the beneficial usage of psilocybin within a regulated medical system in order to alleviate qualified medical conditions”, including treatment-resistant major depression, PTSD and substance abuse disorders, as well as end-of life care. State Department of Health could approve new conditions.
The newly-signed legislation stipulates that psilocybin treatment will be comprised of three sessions: a preparatory session, an administration, and a final integration.
State Health Department will set guidelines on training of clinicians, producers and others, such as dosage, settings approved for administration, protocols for production and storage, and best practices. The state will issue licenses to producers who want to cultivate mushrooms or process psilocybin.
Under the proposed legislation, synthetic psilocybins and their analogs will be prohibited.
A nine member advisory board will propose additional qualification conditions, rules for preparation and dosage. This board will also examine outside requests for new qualifying conditions.
SB 219 creates also two new state-funded funds. Medical psilocybin Treatment Equity Fund will offset the costs of treating qualified patients that meet certain income standards set by health department. The medical psilocybin treatment equity fund will help offset costs of treatment for qualified patients who meet income requirements that would be set by the health department.
The bill would initially have allocated $2 million to the Department of Health from the general state fund for the administration of the program. An additional $1 million would have been given to each of the two new equity and research funds.
However, an amendment passed in a Senate Committee removed the funding amount. Steinborn said that separate legislation contains $2,000,000 for the program if this bill is passed.
Senate Judiciary Committee approved an amended to make it clear that, while service providers of psilocybin would not be prosecuted for the work they do in relation to psychedelics and could be sued by medical malpractice, their actions may still lead to criminal charges.
The Senate adopted an amended to make it clear that the use of psilocybin that has been approved by the federal government would be permitted under state law. However, such products will not be regulated further by the state.
This amendment removed the requirement for the Department to develop “qualifying criteria” for clinicians and producers, added a member of the health care industry to the advisory council that would be formed by this bill, and struck language that was deemed redundant by the sponsor.
In 2023, the House Health and Human Services Committee also 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 2023 session did not see any further progress on this measure.
The sponsor of this legislation announced it in late January. He said the proposed law “creates an carefully designed framework that will allow the Department of Health establish a medical plan for 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 to those who are in need.
Craig Brandt said, “I’m excited to have this new medical breakthrough available to New Mexicans.”
He said that medical psilocybin was effective at treating mental disorders such as depression, PTSD and traumatic brain injury. As a vet, I hope that this new option in medicine will help my fellow veterans.
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Last year, New Mexico lawmakers passed, and the governor 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.
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.
Meanwhile in New Mexico, a House committee recently passed a bill that would further protect medical marijuana patients in the state from being penalized at work for off-duty use of cannabis. The Senate also approved a companion bill.
Legislation To Let Doctors Prescribe A Form Of Psilocybin After Federal Approval Becomes Law In Colorado, But Is Vetoed In Virginia
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