Last week, Washington State legislative committees heard testimony on a proposal to establish a legal system for psilocybin that would promote mental wellness and health. While some people supported the plan, many others opposed it, claiming that either its restrictions were too strict or too lax.
The drafters of SB 5201, and HB 1403, acknowledged that they felt stuck between two groups, but stressed the importance of moving forward to expand access to licensed providers who provide facilitated psilocybin.
Aaron Loehr from the Coalition for Better Community Health who assisted with the legislation’s drafting testified, “We are in the middle.” “On the one hand, there is a group who wants to decriminalize everything. “They want full decriminalization with no restrictions, no safety measures and no accountability.” “On the other hand, there are psychiatrists and Big Pharma who have a market-protectionist agenda.”
The legislation, if approved, would permit adults aged 21 or older to use natural psilocybin-containing products such as dried mushroom and mushroom tea with the help of a facilitator. State licensing would apply to product manufacturers, testing laboratories and service centers.
The program is largely based on pioneering programs from Oregon and Colorado, as well as the Utah pilot. Loehr explained that the proponents of this program hired Oregon and Colorado attorneys “to fix issues they knew about.”
Both the Senate and House versions of both bills were harshly criticized during the public comments at Wednesday’s and Thursday’s hearings.
Rebecca Allen is the Seattle-based neuropsychologist, who describes herself as the “most active psilocybin research in Washington state right now”.
Allen stated that more research was needed before psilocybin could be used safely and effectively to treat patients in general. She told legislators that a “quasi-medical facade” does not make for good healthcare.
Others who spoke, including organizers behind successful efforts to deprioritize enforcement of laws against psilocybin at the local level in Seattle, Tacoma, Port Townsend and Jefferson County, came out in opposition to the reform, which they said would likely be cost-prohibitive for many Washington residents and encourage heightened enforcement against personal and community use of psilocybin.
Erin Redding is the president of Port Townsend Psychedelic Society, and a member of REACH, Washington’s community-based organization that supports psychedelic use and access. She spoke out in “passionate opposition”, as she called it, to the proposed plan.
“It unjustly legalizes paid, regulated use while continuing to criminalize the thriving networks of people who are already healing themselves with psilocybin—safely, effectively, with community accountability and often for free,” Redding said of the legislation. A regulated system encourages the enforcement of people who operate outside it, and increases risk for those seeking healing individually or in communities.
The local resolutions, she said, not only deprioritized psilocybin law enforcement but also encouraged decriminalization on the state level. Jefferson County, for example, “specifically requested that decriminalization be done first, or in conjunction with it.”
Tatiana Luz said that she had initially supported regulated model like Oregon but is now against this approach.
Luz: “Before I opened the first service center, I was a supporter of this model.” After reading reports about a slow implementation, high costs, and the closure of multiple service centres in less than 2 years, this is no longer my opinion.
According to her, “Psilocybin is supposed to be a service that benefits residents in Oregon and pays for itself. But the reality has been different.” Most clients are wealthy out-of state visitors, who have the money to spend thousands per session.
Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (WACDL), Washington Defender Association, and Washington Retail Association are among the groups that support the bill.
Mark Johnson is the senior vice-president of Washington Retail Association’s policy and government affairs. He said his group was in favor of the measure, believing that it could enhance public safety.
Often, the retail thieves in our stores are either under the influences of drugs or have a serious mental illness. Or both,” said he. We strongly support these treatments if they can treat mental illnesses, substance abuse, or both.
He added that “locking them in an institution, or sending them to medical facilities is not going to help them.” It’s also not helping make our community safer.
Jesse Salomon, the Senate’s sponsor of this legislation (D), noted during a Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee Hearing on Thursday that initially he introduced a plan to expand access psilocybin-assisted healthcare at the beginning 2022.
He said, “We have been told by doctors, psychiatrists and medical professionals that psilocybin research is promising. But we need to wait.” “And, mind you, we’ve already had hundreds of studies, academic studies—all of them show promise.”
Since I presented the bill in Congress, about 24,000 vets have taken their own lives,” he said to his colleagues. “I’m not saying that it will change all of them, but some.” This is what we pay for waiting to get more evidence.
Rep. Nicole Macri, the sponsor of the bill in the House, admitted that critics had called it over-regulated. However, she described the legislation as progress.
At a House Health Care and Wellness Committee hearing, she stated: “I am aware that many people wish we would take an even bigger step towards legalizing new therapeutics such as psilocybin.” I think that this is an intelligent step in the correct direction.
The lawmakers heard testimony and a summary on the changes that were made to a replacement version of legislation. According to the legislative summary, there are a few changes in the revised proposal. The proposal replaces the term “psychedelic” substances with the word “psilocybin”, and it removes the provision which would have allowed the Department of Health of California to start allowing other psychedelics after December 31st, 2029.
In addition, the substitute bill will limit service to natural products such as dried mushroom or powdered mushrooms. No synthetic psilocybin, or its analogs, would be permitted. The products could be made in a way that makes administration easier, such as by making mushroom-tea or serving foods or drinks alongside them.
The substitute specifies, in addition, that state laws would not supersede or preclude municipal ordinances which decriminalize or prioritise local enforcement of laws that prohibit the substance.
Washington State Liquor Control Board regulators could limit the number licenses available to cultivators and laboratories, as long as at least twenty licenses are offered in each region of the state.
At the Senate Committee hearing on Thursday, lawmakers also heard SB 5204. This bill would have required the University of Washington conduct a 3-year randomised study to determine the effectiveness of ibogaine assisted therapy in treating opioid addiction. This study must be done at a clinic licensed in Mexico.
Neither the Psilocybin nor Ibogaine Bills were acted upon by either committee, other than taking public testimony.
REACH Washington is working on a separate ballot initiative to legalize plant and fungus-derived psychedelics, such as psilocybin mushroom, mescaline, and DMT.
Although the proposal does not permit commercial sales, “supportive services”, which would allow people to receive payment for providing psychedelic experiences. Adults could freely cultivate psychedelic fungi, plants and flowers and then share these with others without payment.
REACH sent the measure to Secretary of State last year. The office gave it an official ballot title and summary by June.
Last week, legislative committees held initial hearings on a number of bills related to marijuana, such as proposals that allow licensed cannabis producers to sell directly to consumers and end home cultivation’s criminalization in the state.
Washington became one of two U.S. States to allow adult use marijuana in 2012, when voters approved Initiative 502. Unlike most other jurisdictions to have adopted the reform since then, however, the state forbids home cultivation of cannabis for personal use—classifying it as a felony offense—and bars vertical integration within the commercial industry.
Legislative attempts to allow for personal marijuana production date back at least to 2015 but have failed so far. Only state-registered patients of medical marijuana may cultivate it legally at this time.
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