The new psychedelics measure was inserted as an amendment into an economic development omnibus bill, which passed the House by 148 votes to 2 on July 8. 

If it becomes law, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health will be required to develop and implement the five-year pilot. Up to three licensed mental health clinics would be authorized to provide monitored care using naturally occurring psychedelics, such as psilocybin.

The pilot program would exclude commercial interests. Participating providers could not be subsidiaries, affiliates or members of cannabis industry organizations, psychedelic molecule development companies, or pharmaceutical companies. 

The clinics would be required to track patient outcomes related to the diagnosis and psychedelic treatment of depression, anxiety, PTSD and substance use disorder. The health department would use this data to refine clinical protocols and finalize regulatory frameworks. The department would be tasked with drafting regulations for patient assessment and program oversight, and would also coordinate with research institutions to expedite federally authorized research on psychedelic-assisted therapies.

The measure would additionally establish a Medical Psychedelics Fund to finance access for people in need, structured similarly to the psilocybin treatment equity fund in New Mexico. 

“There were plenty of skeptics who doubted the Commonwealth was ready to lead on this issue. This vote proves them wrong.”

Psychedelics advocates in Massachusetts are split over the model. Many argue that confining services to a small number of health care settings is far too restrictive, presenting unjustified barriers. Others favor the carefully regulated care that clinical settings could provide for people with mental health conditions, or at least see this as part of a journey toward wider access.

Those backing the measure include the advocacy organization Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS). “Massachusetts just took a meaningful step toward becoming a national leader on psychedelic-assisted therapy,” VETS Legislative Director Logan Davidson told Filter. “There were plenty of skeptics who doubted the Commonwealth was ready to lead on this issue. This vote proves them wrong.”

“This win belongs to the grassroots advocates who refused to let this stall,” Davidson added. “We’re not slowing down until this becomes law.”

Graham Moore, educational outreach director for psychedelic advocacy group Mass Healing, is a former Yes on 4 staffer turned whistleblower on its alleged campaign finance violations. He also supports the new approach. 

“This is a triumph for a new kind of politics in the psychedelics advocacy sphere, built on integrity, compromise and mutual, earned trust,” Moore told Filter. “At the beginning of this legislative session, the psychedelic advocacy sphere was operating with a trust deficit in Massachusetts because of catastrophic mismanagement. This victory was possible only through responsible leadership: unafraid to confront bad actors, admit mistakes and operate dynamically.”

Activists have voiced concerns that the high cost of care in Oregon and Colorado’s state-regulated psychedelic treatment programs should not be repeated.

After the 2024 defeat of Question 4, Massachusetts lawmakers filed 12 psychedelic bills in January 2025. The Massachusetts Psychiatric Society endorsed three of these bills in July 2025, becoming the first American Psychiatric Association regional branch to support legal medical access.

Activists have voiced concerns, however, that the high cost of care in Oregon and Colorado’s state-regulated psychedelic treatment programs, excluding many people on lower incomes, should not be repeated in Massachusetts.

Lobbying spending on psychedelics-related issues on Beacon Hill reflects this tension. Compass Pathways, a company currently seeking FDA approval for its synthetic psilocybin compound, reported $54,000 in expenditures during the first half of 2025, up from $32,100 in 2024. These funds targeted the governor’s office and the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Veterans Services. Traditional health care entities have also spent heavily to shape psychedelic care in Massachusetts. Health New England Inc. and the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans spent a combined $140,000 during the first half of 2025.

One figure associated with the influence of private capital on psychedelic policy reform in the state is Colin Beatty, co-founder of the Massachusetts-based startup Control Z Health, who has been criticized by many grassroots activists.

In June 2025, Beatty testified in support of establishing a psychedelic pilot program during a committee hearing at the Massachusetts State House. He explicitly opposed broader decriminalization and attacked the thinking behind Question 4. Beatty called the push for general adult-use access “a mistake representing an irrational exuberance about the potentials of psychedelics.” 

Rooting his demand for a strict medical model in his family’s history, Beatty testified: “I founded my previous company [Column Health] … because I couldn’t find humane, medical … care in the community for a loved one of mine.”

Despite Beatty’s stated intentions, online patient reviews for his former company Column Health’s mental health and addiction clinics across Massachusetts suggest a pattern of severe failings.  

One reviewer described the clinical care as “laughable … the worst of any addiction treatment center I’ve ever been in contact with.” Another reviewer wrote that they’d attended the company’s Arlington facility and would not be surprised if it prevented more people from recovering than it helped. Similar sentiments were expressed by people who wrote that they’d attended the group’s Lawrence and Lowell locations, with one calling the company’s clinical model “the absolute worst.”

“Management and executives are hopeless,” wrote one former employee in a scathing review on Glassdoor. “Every decision they make is driven by money … they do not care about patients at all.”

“If the bill becomes law, the Department will have an important responsibility to ensure that … safety and quality, not commercial interests, drive the model.”

For Dr. Franklin King, a Boston-based psychiatrist specializing in psychedelics research, the impact of the measure passed by the House will hinge on who controls the rulemaking process.

“The House’s passage of this bill reflects growing recognition that many people are already seeking psychedelic experiences outside the traditional medical system and that there is value in creating a regulated pathway for supported, guided use,” King told Filter. “If the bill becomes law, the Department of Public Health will have an important responsibility to ensure that regulations are shaped by people with genuine expertise in psychedelic care, so that safety and quality, not commercial interests, drive the model.”

Whether such concerns are addressed if the measure becomes law remains to be seen. But for now, many psychedelic advocates are expressing pride in the progress of a measure with tangible equity provisions.  

 “This is a victory for everyone affected by PTSD, treatment-resistant depression, addiction, and other serious mental and physical health conditions who urgently need new treatment options,” Jamie Morey, co-founder and executive director of Mass Healing, told Filter. 

Morey credited the milestone to a coalition of researchers, clinicians and patients, alongside lobbying efforts from VETS and local philanthropists Peter Palandjian and former actress turned psychedelic therapist Eliza Dushku.

The larger omnibus bill under which the proposed psychedelic program falls is now headed to the Massachusetts Senate, which is expected to draft and pass its own version of the economic development package in the coming weeks. 

Photograph of Massachusetts State House by Coralie Mercier via Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0

The post Massachusetts House Advances Psychedelic Therapy Pilot Program appeared first on Filter.

The coalition is pushing for the passage of Senate Bill 1018, formally known as the North Carolina Healing Through Evidence-Based Access to Lifesaving Care Act, or HEAL Act. The legislation aims to advance clinical research into the use of United States Food and Drug Administration-designated psychedelic “breakthrough therapies”—such as MDMA, psilocybin and ibogaine—to treat debilitating, trauma-related mental health conditions.

Backed by a proposed $5.4 million appropriation, the HEAL Act would establish the Breakthrough Therapies Research Grant Fund within the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. It would create a Breakthrough Therapies Task Force, responsible for overseeing a competitive grant process to award up to five $1 million grants to state-based academic or federal research entities. Under the bill’s guidelines, funded clinical studies would have to focus specifically on populations disproportionately impacted by trauma—including veterans, frontline health care workers and survivors of domestic violence or sexual assault. 

“North Carolina is home to some of the largest military installations in the country, and a veteran community that deserves better than the status quo.”

The task force would also be responsible for monitoring the ongoing research—and for evaluating legal, regulatory and public health pathways to ultimately integrate psychedelic treatments into mainstream psychiatric care across the state.

Advocates involved in the Day of Action say North Carolina is uniquely positioned to benefit from such legislation, due to its large military footprint and the gaps in current treatment options for veterans returning home with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“North Carolina is home to some of the largest military installations in the country, and a veteran community that deserves better than the status quo,” Logan Davidson, legislative director for Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS), told Filter. “SB 1018 represents a real opportunity to expand access to proven, innovative therapies for the men and women who’ve sacrificed the most. Today’s Day of Action sends a clear message to legislators: The time to act is now.”

North Carolina advocates emphasize that the campaign transcends partisan lines by putting its focus on an escalating crisis that affects people of all backgrounds and beliefs.

“Today in Raleigh, we gathered as a community to raise awareness about North Carolina’s ongoing mental health crisis.”

“Today in Raleigh, we gathered as a community to raise awareness about North Carolina’s ongoing mental health crisis and to honor the countless individuals and families impacted by trauma, depression, PTSD, addiction and other mental health challenges,” Gina Giorgio, founder of Carolinas for Care, told Filter on June 16. “Across our state, people are searching for hope and healing when existing treatments have failed them.”

“The HEAL Act represents an important step toward expanding research, education and access to innovative mental health treatments,” she continued, “including psychedelic-assisted therapies that are showing promising results for conditions that have long been difficult to treat.”

The push in Raleigh reflects a broader trend across the South. Over the past 18 months, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia are among states to have enacted legislative reforms focused on psychedelic research. Reform bills have meanwhile been introduced in Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana and Virginia. Municipal or county measures have additionally been explored in recent years in places like Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; and Chesterfield County, Virginia.

“North Carolinians deserve access to evidence-based treatment options and compassionate care. The stories shared today remind us that this issue is not political—it’s personal.”

Advocates in nearby states are paying close attention to North Carolina’s efforts. Will Nelson, co-founder of Decriminalize Nature Virginia, told Filter that he’s, “excited to see this kind of momentum and initiative being taken by our neighbors in North Carolina.”

“It’s so important for people across the Southeast to gain access,” he continued. “Here in Virginia, we’ve been continuing our own organizing efforts across the state.”

North Carolina’s Senate Bill 1018 remains under consideration by senate committees. Its passage would place the state within an expanding network of state-funded scientific inquiries examining how long-banned psychedelic compounds might safely stabilize people with severe psychological injuries.

“Carolinas for Care believes that North Carolinians deserve access to evidence-based treatment options and compassionate care,” Giorgio said. “The stories shared today remind us that this issue is not political—it’s personal. Behind every statistic is a person, a family and a community seeking healing.”

“We are committed to ensuring that those voices continue to be heard,” she concluded, “as we work toward a future with accessible and effective care.”

Photograph (cropped) of North Carolina state legislative building by Jayron32 via Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons 3.0

The post Coalition Rallies Behind North Carolina Bill for Psychedelic Care appeared first on Filter.

The mobilization, which ran from May 12-14, brought together labor unions, veterans, civil liberties advocates, legal experts, industry executives and directly impacted individuals around three core demands: federally legalizing cannabis, releasing federal cannabis prisoners, and expunging records to restore civil rights. The coalition spent three days navigating the halls of both congressional chambers to pitch a comprehensive package of 13 separate hemp and cannabis reform bills.

The legislative push comes at a critical juncture. While an overwhelming majority of states have legalized medical or adult-use cannabis in some form, federal law continues to classify the plant as a Schedule I controlled substance, creating a legal and economic paradox that advocates say can no longer be ignored.

Central to the coalition’s push is the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, introduced as HR 5068. If passed, the MORE Act would completely remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, effectively ending nearly a century of federal prohibition.

The bill’s provisions extend far beyond simple descheduling. It aims to eliminate all federal criminal penalties for marijuana activity, establish clear pathways for expungement and resentencing, and create community reinvestment from federal cannabis tax revenues. The bill also contains equity measures designed to lower barriers to entry for small, independent businesses attempting to navigate the highly capitalized legal market.

“It’s on Congress to pass a comprehensive legalization bill that centers the release of cannabis prisoners.”

“Cannabis reform is the most popular issue in American politics, and now that the president has signaled he is open to reform, it’s on Congress to pass a comprehensive legalization bill that centers the release of cannabis prisoners who should no longer be incarcerated,” Jason Ortiz, director of strategic initiatives for the Last Prisoner Project and cofounder of the Latino Cannabis Alliance, told Filter.

Ortiz emphasized that administrative gestures must be backed by concrete statutory moves. “LPP stands ready to work with the Cannabis Caucus co-chairs and the Cannabis Unity Coalition to pass a full descheduling bill like the MORE Act,” he continued, “to finally end the nightmare that has been cannabis prohibition, and create a path for everyone incarcerated for cannabis crimes to rejoin their families and become full members of society.”

Jason Ortiz speaking

A driving theme of the Week of Unity was the disproportionate impact of federal prohibition on minority communities, specifically Latino populations. In a May 13 press conference outside the Senate wing of the Capitol, advocates drew a direct line from early 20th-century anti-immigrant rhetoric to modern-day deportation statistics.

“Buenos dias. My name is Jessica Gonzalez. I am an Ecuadorian immigrant, an attorney, and the president of the Latino Cannabis Alliance, a national coalition of Latino advocates, attorneys, organizers, researchers and storytellers fighting to move our communities from the margins of cannabis policy to the center of it,” Gonzalez told a crowd of reporters and lawmakers. “We are Harry Anslinger’s worst nightmare.”

“A system that fused cannabis prohibition and immigration enforcement into a deportation pipeline, and aimed it at our families.”

Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, weaponized anti-Latino and anti-Black prejudice in the 1930s to secure the initial federal restriction of cannabis. Gonzalez noted that the structural machinery built during that era continues to function with devastating efficiency.

“We are here because Latinos are the largest immigrant group in the country, and the cannabis industry benefits tremendously from Latino consumers and workers while staying silent on the same policies that make participation for non-citizen Latinos dangerous,” Gonzalez said. “That is a contradiction we are here to say out loud. And here is a number we do not hear often enough: 70 percent. Over 70 percent of people sentenced federally for cannabis possession are classified as Hispanic. That is not a coincidence but the result of a system that fused cannabis prohibition and immigration enforcement into a deportation pipeline, and aimed it at our families.”

For non-citizens, even legal residents, a federal conviction or disclosure of cannabis possession can trigger mandatory deportation without judicial discretion. Gonzalez stated that the Latino Cannabis Alliance refuses to let the economic boom of state-sanctioned cannabis eclipse the human cost of federal inaction.

“But we have never been a people who accept the terms we are given,” Gonzalez said. “My family refused when they left everything they knew and built a life in a foreign country. Our communities refused when prohibition tried to turn our families into criminals and our neighborhoods into evidence. And today the Latino Cannabis Alliance refuses to let one more family be deported, one more worker be silenced, or one more community be erased from a movement we have always belonged to.”  

She continued that, “decriminalization is the floor, not the ceiling. We will not forget the deported. We will not forget the detained. Our work spans borders, but it begins where this system was built. Prohibition began with a lie about our people. It will end with the truth from us.”

“In cannabis, Latinos still face limited access to capital, restrictive policies and exclusion from ownership.”

Business leaders also described the injustice and inequity of the current landscape.

“Cannabis Unity Week is not a celebration of victory—it is a call to action,” said Susie Plascencia, founder of Latinas in Cannabis and a representative for the National Hispanic Cannabis Council. “Thousands of people are still incarcerated for cannabis offenses, families are still living with the consequences of prohibition, and Latino communities remain disproportionately harmed and underrepresented in this industry.”

Today, Plascencia pointed out multi-state marijuana operators are generating billions of dollars on public stock exchanges, yet independent, minority-owned startups face severe capital constraints due to federal banking restrictions.

“Latino entrepreneurs are among the fastest-growing in the country, building businesses despite systemic barriers,” she said, “but in cannabis, many still face limited access to capital, restrictive policies and exclusion from ownership. We are building in spite of it all, but we should not have to build alone. We are here to demand federal action … Because equity is not just about repairing harm—it’s about investing in the future.”

The broader drug policy reform movement also lent its institutional weight to the coalition.

“As MAPS celebrates its 40th anniversary, we’re proud to join the Cannabis Unity Coalition in advancing the movement for compassionate, evidence-based drug policy,” said gina vensel, community partnerships manager for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

“This milestone is an opportunity to reflect on the progress made in challenging the War on Drugs while recognizing the crucial work that still lies ahead, especially around restorative justice,” vensel told Filter. “Together, we strive to dismantle stigma, educate our communities, and advocate for meaningful reform. The Cannabis Unity Coalition represents the power of collective action to drive lasting, positive change.”

Beyond the comprehensive framework of the MORE Act, advocates spent time on the Hill educating lawmakers on a variety of narrower measures designed to solve immediate, practical problems.

Among these is the STATES 2.0 Act (HR 2934), a bipartisan bill that would amend federal law to respect state-legal cannabis programs, shielding state-regulated businesses from federal interference and asset forfeiture. Advocates also pushed for the PREPARE Act (HR 2935 / S 3576), which would establish a federal commission tasked with designing a comprehensive regulatory framework for the eventual post-prohibition transition.

“I think there are a lot of people who smoke cannabis in Congress,” Rep. Omar said.

To counter decades of politically motivated restrictions on scientific inquiry, the coalition also advocated for the Evidence-Based Drug Policy Act (HR 3082), to remove barriers that prevent the Office of National Drug Control Policy from conducting objective research on the societal impacts of cannabis legalization.

The coalition additionally brought a heavy focus to “clean slate” initiatives, housing stability and agricultural guidelines. Key legislation on this front includes the Clean Slate Act, a bipartisan measure mandating the automatic sealing of certain federal records for nonviolent cannabis convictions, to help impacted people access employment and educational opportunities. Advocates are championing the Veterans Cannabis Use for Safe Healing Act and the Veterans Equal Access Act, too—complementary bills to prevent removal of Department of Veterans Affairs benefits if veterans participate in state-legal medical cannabis programs, and to allow VA physicians to recommend medical cannabis in states where it is legal.

Another item on the coalition’s agenda is the Marijuana in Federally Assisted Housing Parity Act, to protect people in federally assisted housing from eviction or denial of residency based solely on state-compliant cannabis use. Finally, organizers are seeking hemp regulatory clarifications through a suite of agricultural bills.

While the coalition faced an uphill battle given entrenched congressional leadership, several lawmakers emerged from their offices to signal solidarity. Following the press conference, Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), spoke candidly with TMZ about shifting currents inside the Capitol.

Omar noted that the immense financial drain of maintaining prohibition has fundamentally changed the conversation, making fiscal conservatives increasingly open to reform.

“I will say, advocacy for legalizing doesn’t necessarily mean that you are a user, so everybody can be an advocate … because we understand that it is not OK for us to spend the billions of dollars we do now on incarcerating people for smoking a joint,” Omar said.

Omar also suggested that policy positions on the Hill lag behind private reality. “I think there are a lot of people who smoke cannabis in Congress,” she said.

As the three-day mobilization concluded, organizers expressed optimism, saying that the sheer breadth of the 41-group alliance forces lawmakers to view cannabis not as a boutique drug policy issue, but as a critical intersection of labor rights, immigration justice, veteran health care and economic equity, among other issues.

Whether their unity can spur legislative movement in a highly polarized Congress remains to be seen, but advocates left Washington with a clear message: The floor of decriminalization has been established; the fight for the ceiling of full justice is underway.

Photographs by Jack Gorsline

The post “End the Nightmare”—Coalition Hits DC for Cannabis Justice appeared first on Filter.

The bill passed the House in March. If signed into law by Governor Kevin Stitt (R), it will mark a significant shift in Oklahoma’s approach to the ongoing crises around mental health and substance use disorders. It would authorize the State Department of Health to enter into contracts with drug developers to conduct extensive, state-monitored clinical trials for ibogaine-based therapeutics. Lawmakers who championed the bill argue that traditional treatment methods have consistently fallen short, necessitating a research-driven exploration of breakthrough therapies.

The legislation is also designed to facilitate collaboration with other states currently conducting similar clinical research, creating a multistate consortium aimed at securing federal regulatory approval.

Ibogaine is derived from the root bark of the iboga shrub. For decades, the compound has shown observational promise in interrupting severe substance use disorders—particularly opioids—and alleviating post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. However, because ibogaine is federally classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, it remains illegal to possess, distribute or administer outside of highly restricted research settings. This has seen desperate patients seek unregulated and costly treatments abroad.

Proponents of the bill stress that it would bring the treatment out of the unregulated shadows and into highly controlled medical environments.

Ibogaine use for these purposes is not without controversy or risk. There are well-documented medical hazards, most notably the potential for severe cardiac complications, which have led to efforts to develop safer versions of the compound. There are also risks around resumed opioid use with lowered tolerance if ibogaine is used for withdrawal and abstinence.

Recognizing these issues, proponents of the Oklahoma bill stress that state-sponsored clinical trials would bring the treatment out of the unregulated shadows and into highly controlled medical environments. Under the proposed framework, patients would undergo rigorous pre-treatment medical evaluations and receive the drug under continuous monitoring by medical professionals.

To mitigate financial risk to the state and seek a high standard of research, the bill imposes requirements on participating drug developers. Any drug developer contracting with the health department would have to match the state’s financial investment in the trials dollar-for-dollar. Developers would additionally be required to submit a detailed plan for obtaining approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, along with protocols for trial participant recruitment, patient screening criteria, safety, and post-acute treatment support.

The bill also mandates that drug developers prioritize treatment access for Oklahoma residents once FDA approval is secured. And the legislation requires a plan to protect the state’s economic interest in any intellectual property generated. The idea is that if the trials yield a profitable, FDA-approved therapeutic, funds will come back to the state.

The legislation establishes a dedicated revolving fund to capture any proceeds. By law, this money could only be utilized for programs or further research that directly benefit at-risk Oklahomans with conditions treatable by ibogaine. The bill grants medical professionals professional immunity too, shielding them from adverse licensing actions by state medical boards for recommending these trials to their patients.

“This initiative was led by a grassroots effort, employed no lobbyists, and focused on education through truly lived experiences.”

The passage of House Bill 3834 through the Senate represents a major victory for a coalition of patient advocates, veterans and others. These groups have spent months sharing deeply personal stories of addiction, trauma and recovery with state lawmakers, aiming to demystify ibogaine and highlight its potential.

“Oklahoma for Ibogaine is celebrating the passing of HB 3834 through the Senate,” Nate Morgans, an Oklahoma-based psychedelics advocate and CEO of the Casey Skudin 343 Fund, told Filter. “Our team has worked tirelessly since December to educate, inform, and persuade Oklahoma legislators on the importance of authorizing and funding FDA clinical trials of Ibogaine. This initiative was led by a grassroots effort, employed no lobbyists, and focused on education through truly lived experiences. Our success today serves as a testament to what can be accomplished with determined hearts.”

In recent months, other state legislatures have begun viewing ibogaine research as a pragmatic health care response. In March, for instance, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) signed similar legislation. The Mississippi law authorizes the state to form a consortium to conduct ibogaine clinical trials in direct coordination with other participating states—most notably neighboring Texas, which has already committed substantial funding to psychedelic research.

While Mississippi’s new law establishes the legal and administrative framework for the clinical trials, the new law does not currently appropriate state general funds toward the program. However, state lawmakers have indicated their intent to allocate a portion of the state’s federal opioid settlement funds to support the initiative. Advocates are divided over such uses of money that could otherwise be funding under-resourced harm reduction efforts.

State efforts to establish ibogaine clinical trials have not been uniformly successful. In April, a similar bill in West Virginia was derailed, after Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) vetoed it.

The bill would have established a state grant program to fund ibogaine drug development trials. It passed the state legislature, but Morrisey cited fiscal concerns in his veto message. Before killing the bill in the hours leading up to the state’s legislative deadline, he said that while he supports this medical innovation in principle, “we should do so without requiring the state to award grants of undefined and unfunded amounts.”

“This bill is more than a policy change—it offers real hope to so many people who desperately need it.”

Despite such setbacks and controversies, advocates for ibogaine access and development remain optimistic about growing national momentum.

“This bill is more than a policy change—it offers real hope to so many people who desperately need it,” Chase Rowan told Filter of the Oklahoma bill. A US Army Ranger veteran, Rowan serves as both the veteran coordinator for Texans for Greater Mental Health and the director of Community Engagement & Advocacy for Americans for Ibogaine.

It’s a development that will “offer hope” to veterans and their families, including those impacted by substance use disorders, he said, and who have “tried every conventional method known to man, with no success.”

“Hello, Ibogaine, now we have an answer,” Rowan continued, “a real legitimate answer, something we can study, a medicine that will help so many people find true healing. Exciting things to come in the world of healing.”

The Oklahoma Breakthrough Therapy Act now heads to Gov. Stitt’s desk, where it remains to be seen if it will be signed into law.   

Photograph of Oklahoma Senate chamber by Oklahoma Legislative Services Bureau via Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

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The bill, introduced in March by Senators Tim Sheehy (R-MT)  and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to create an Office of Novel Therapeutics—responsible for developing national clinical standards, readiness plans and workforce credentialing frameworks ahead of potential Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals of psychedelics like psilocybin, ibogaine and MDMA.

Under S.4220, the VA would also notably prohibit “step therapy” rules, which often force patients to try less expensive, older treatments before accessing new therapies. The bill would also establish a Veteran Advisory Committee to monitor patient safety and mandate a national preparedness strategy within 180 days of enactment.

During the hearing, Dr. Mark A. Koeniger, the VA’s acting assistant under secretary for Health for Patient Care Services, told lawmakers the VA already utilizes “novel therapeutics,” in the form of ketamine and esketamine, at 53 facilities.

“We understand that these novel therapeutics have a potential benefit,” Koeniger said. “What we want to do is to make sure that those are rolled out in a very objective and scientific way, because we certainly don’t want to injure veterans.”

Koeniger noted that while the VA is “anticipating that some [psychedelic drugs] be approved by the FDA,” the department is already laying bureaucratic groundwork through an integrated project team. He cautioned against the “duplication of activities” and offered to work with the committee to identify gaps between the bill’s requirements and current VA initiatives.

“I’m personally very anxious to get this going because a lot of veterans are now going to Mexico and other parts of the world and getting unregulated therapies.”

Sen. Gallego is an Iraq War veteran who is also co-sponsoring the Innovative Therapies Centers for Excellence Act, as Filter previously reported. He expressed urgency at the hearing, citing risks faced by veterans seeking unregulated treatments abroad.

“I’m personally very anxious to get this going because a lot of veterans are now going to Mexico and other parts of the world and getting unregulated therapies, which can be hit or miss, can be dangerous,” Gallego said.

His concerns follow a recent patient death at Ambio Life Science’s facility in Tijuana, Mexico, involving the potent psychedelic ibogaine, which is sometimes used for opioid withdrawal. 

Melissa Lavasani, founder of the Washington, DC-based Psychedelic Medicine Coalition (PMC), attended the hearing, and feels that radical bureaucratic innovation at the VA is long overdue. 

“What came through in this hearing is that the VA is being asked to solve 21st-century health challenges with a system that wasn’t built for them,” Lavasani told Filter. She added that the hearing showed “real bipartisan acknowledgment that we need to evaluate treatments that don’t fit neatly into existing frameworks, including psychedelic-assisted therapies.”

“Without system-level reforms … the VA risks repeating a familiar pattern: promising treatments are approved, but Veterans wait years.”

The bill also found support in written testimony submitted by Dr. Lynette Averill, chief science officer for the Veterans Mental Health Leadership Coalition and the advocacy group Reason for Hope. Averill argued that the measure is necessary to prevent a “familiar pattern” where newly approved treatments remain inaccessible to veterans for years due to a lack of readiness.

“Without system-level reforms to strengthen proactive planning and provide clear implementation authority for truly transformative approaches, the VA risks repeating a familiar pattern: promising treatments are approved, but Veterans wait years before they are meaningfully accessible,” Averill stated.

The push for new VA infrastructure comes amid threats to federal science and health spending. While the administration signaled interest in psychedelic research through President Donald Trump’s April 18 executive order, its proposed budget plans for 2027 include a 50 percent cut to the National Science Foundation and a 13 percent reduction for the National Institutes of Health. The administration’s April 24 dismissal of the entire National Science Board has been seen as another attack on research.

The hearing also occurred against a backdrop of increasing scrutiny of the burgeoning psychedelics industry. The Office of Congressional Conduct is currently reviewing a complaint against the Association for Prescription Psychedelics and its founder, former Representative Mimi Walters, over alleged mishandling of taxpayer-funded data. Separately, former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who has lobbied for ibogaine research, is named in a Justice Department complaint alleging potential violations of federal lobbying rules for former lawmakers.

The bill is “critical, not just as a research effort, but as the infrastructure needed to responsibly move these treatments into real-world care.”

Despite these controversies, recent executive actions have looked to accelerate the federal timeline for psychedelic medicines. Following Trump’s April 18 executive order, the FDA awarded “National Priority Vouchers” to Compass Pathways, Transcend Therapeutics, and the Usona Institute. These are intended to expedite the review of drugs like psilocybin and methylone, potentially reducing the federal review period from months to weeks.

Additionally, the FDA recently approved the first US clinical trial for DemeRx’s Noribogaine compound, a metabolite of ibogaine. The trial, which will evaluate Noribogaine’s efficacy in treating alcohol use disorder, is expected to begin this summer. 

S.4220 is one of three psychedelic-related bills up for consideration this term—including the Innovative Therapies Centers for Excellence Act of 2026, sponsored by Sens. Gallego and Rob McCormick (R-PA), which aims to create a series of specialized VA hubs focused on advancing psychedelic medicine. 

“The question now isn’t whether to explore these options,” Lavasani said, “it’s whether the VA is structurally prepared to test, validate, and, if supported by the evidence, deliver them at scale.“

That, she concluded, is where S.4220 “becomes critical, not just as a research effort, but as the infrastructure needed to responsibly move these treatments into real-world care.”

Photograph (cropped) via GetArchive/Public Domain

The post Senate Committee Weighs “Critical” VA-focused Psychedelics Bill appeared first on Filter.

Embedded within the finalized appropriation is a late addition: a pioneering directive to allocate $630,000 to the state’s Psilocybin Treatment Equity Fund, newly established under New Mexico’s Medical Psilocybin Act.

Confirmation of the funding represents a big step forward in the state’s efforts to integrate psychedelic-assisted therapies into its broader behavioral health infrastructure. And the formal allocation of state funds to pay for psychedelic treatments for patients on low incomes is seen as a world first.

“To ensure all New Mexicans who qualify for the program would have access to it, not just those with financial resources.”

State Senator Jeff Steinborn (D) was one of the legislative champions of the 2025 legalization of psilocybin for medical purposes. He emphasized that the state’s financial support is what will ultimately dictate the efficacy and fairness of the entire enterprise.

“I’m excited that New Mexico has taken the next step in support of our Medical Psilocybin Treatment Program,” Sen. Steinborn told Filter following the budget’s approval. “An important part of our state law was the creation of an equity fund, to ensure all New Mexicans who qualify for the program would have access to it, not just those with financial resources. Through this funding provided by the legislature and governor, as well as additional investment in research into end-of-life anxiety, we are working to launch the best evidence-based program possible.”

In addition to the equity fund allocation, the budget authorizes a supplementary $300,000 earmarked for clinical research at the University of New Mexico into treating end-of-life anxiety with psilocybin—the hallucinogenic compound found in certain mushrooms.

New Mexico will be a critical testing ground for medical access to psychedelics as it navigates the challenges of implementation. Its schedule is ambitious. In December 2025, state health officials announced concrete plans to launch the program by the end of 2026. This means rolling out the regulatory and clinical framework a full year ahead of the initially imposed legislative deadline.

When the program opens its doors to patients, New Mexico will become the third state to launch a state-regulated psilocybin program after Oregon and Colorado. However, while Oregon and Colorado have adopted models that allow for supported adult use and broader therapeutic access outside of strict medical confines, New Mexico’s program will be fundamentally clinical and medicalized. It’s designed to provide highly supervised treatment for specific, severe qualifying medical conditions—including major treatment-resistant depression, severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic substance use disorders, and specialized end-of-life care.

The journey to secure the $630,000 for the fund was neither guaranteed nor simple. A coalition worked to pressure lawmakers.

But in the United States, a medicalized model immediately raises questions around whether people will be able to access it on the basis of need, rather than ability to pay. That’s what the Psilocybin Treatment Equity Fund is intended to address.

The journey to secure the $630,000 for the fund was neither guaranteed nor simple. When the 2026 legislative session convened in Santa Fe in January, the process began without any proposed money for the fund in either the executive or legislative budget recommendations. The omission threatened to leave the equity provisions of the Medical Psilocybin Act as an unfunded mandate, potentially delaying access for the state’s most vulnerable populations.

In response, a coalition of statewide psychedelic community members, health care providers and other advocates worked to pressure lawmakers. The coalition drafted and circulated a formal petition and letter to state legislators, urging them to ensure the funding was provided. Their efforts paid off.

Denali Wilson, director of strategy support for the Healing Advocacy Fund in New Mexico, characterized the budget allocation as a monumental victory for patient advocacy and an indicator of the state’s commitment to equitable health care.

The legislature’s decision “sends a clear message: This new model is intended to be accessible to the communities it is designed to serve.”

“Full funding of the Treatment Equity Fund marks the beginning of a bold new chapter in state-led health innovation,” Wilson told Filter. “As the nation’s first medically integrated psilocybin program, New Mexico is setting a model the rest of the country will be watching closely—particularly when it comes to affordability, access and equity.”

The legislature’s decision, she continued, “sends a clear message: This new model is intended to be accessible to the communities it is designed to serve. Ensuring that ability to pay is not a barrier to accessing life-saving services is essential to the program’s success.”

Wilson added that the late addition to the budget underscores the power of civic engagement in shaping emergent health policies.“Community members and advocates rallied to highlight the need, and our lawmakers and Governor responded,” she said. “We are grateful to the governor and the legislature for their leadership, and especially thank Senators Jeff Steinborn, Jay Block, Nicole Tobiassen, and Martin Hickey, and Representative Stefani Lord for their support of equity and research.”

The infusion of state dollars into the psychedelic therapy framework is largely made possible by New Mexico’s unique economic positioning. It manages significant, continuous oil and gas revenues through a series of state-run trust funds. State lawmakers have the discretionary authority to allocate portions of these funds to invest in education, infrastructure, state services and public health initiatives. In this unprecedented instance, legislators have directed a fraction of that fossil fuel revenue toward establishing sustainable psilocybin-assisted therapy services.

“Psilocybin will be an important new tool to relieve anxiety and depression in patients facing end of life.”

The program’s focus on end-of-life care has also drawn national attention. Attorney Kathryn Tucker, advocacy director for the National Psychedelics Association, serves as co-counsel behind an ongoing legal petition to formally reschedule psilocybin under the federal Controlled Substances Act—currently under review by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Tucker applauded New Mexico’s move to provide compassionate care.

“Great to see the funding come through for the New Mexico Medical Psilocybin Act,” she told Filter, adding that in her opinion, the legislation “is a great model for other states.”

Tucker, who also serves as a special advocacy advisor for the National Psychedelics Association, highlighted the intersection between psilocybin therapy and existing palliative care laws. “New Mexico is among the states that allows Medical Aid in Dying,” she noted, “empowering terminally ill people to obtain medications prescribed by their physician to advance the time of death. Regardless what one thinks of MAID, all agree no one ought to choose it due to unrelieved suffering. Psilocybin will be an important new tool to relieve anxiety and depression in patients facing end of life.”

Beyond the immediate public health implications, policy experts argue that funding psilocybin therapy is a sound  economic strategy for state governments burdened by the spiraling costs of conventional mental health treatments. Conventional approaches to treatment-resistant depression and severe PTSD may involve decades of prescription medications, intensive outpatient programs and hospitalizations—costs often absorbed by state-funded Medicaid programs.

“New Mexico just made a smart bet, and it starts with getting the math right. The framing that psilocybin therapy is too expensive has failed to compare it to anything.”

Sam Chapman, founder and executive director of the Center for Psychedelic Policy, suggested that New Mexico’s initial financial investment will yield massive downstream savings.

“New Mexico just made a smart bet, and it starts with getting the math right,” he told Filter. “The framing that psilocybin therapy is too expensive has failed to compare it to anything. Compare it to the tens of billions of dollars states are spending on medication cycles, repeated hospitalizations, and chronic treatment that produces modest outcomes, and the calculus inverts completely.”

“Psilocybin therapy isn’t a luxury alternative,” Chapman continued. “It’s about becoming the most cost-effective intervention in the behavioral health toolbox. New Mexico sees that, and the states that do the math early are the ones that stand to lead the country on behavioral health for the next decade to come.”

Despite the optimism surrounding the budget signing and the macroeconomic arguments for psychedelic medicine, local organizers caution that the state appropriation is only the first piece of a much larger financial puzzle. The practical, day-to-day operations of a medical psilocybin clinic involve significant overheads—including the high costs of licensing, securing specialized clinical spaces and compensating highly trained facilitators, who must sit with patients for treatment sessions that can last upwards of six hours.

“The overall impact will depend on the cost of facilitating treatment for participants, which remains largely unknown at this time.”

Deborah Thorne, founder of Sol Tryp—a Las Cruces-based nonprofit organization dedicated to “promoting psychedelic healing, methods, teachings, research, and reciprocity”—said that while the budget allocation is crucial, the real-world costs of treatment for vulnerable populations are still difficult to quantify.

“The $630,000 Treatment Equity Fund will provide an important initial contribution to the program,” Thorne told Filter, noting the complexity of the upcoming rollout. However, she warned that “the overall impact will depend on the cost of facilitating treatment for participants, which remains largely unknown at this time.”

Because state funds alone may not be sufficient to subsidize the full scope of patient needs once the program opens in December 2026, Thorne stressed the ongoing need for private and philanthropic support. “It is essential that nonprofits and community advocacy organizations continue to engage in fundraising and resource development efforts to help ensure the program’s long-term sustainability,” she said.

As New Mexico Department of Health regulators spend at least the next nine months finalizing the specific rules, licensing requirements, and safety protocols for the psilocybin program, many medical, legal, and public policy eyes will be fixed on Santa Fe. The nature of the Psilocybin Treatment Equity Fund rollout could determine whether psychedelic therapy remains an exclusive option for the wealthy, or become a standard, accessible cornerstone of public health.

Photograph by Alan Rockefeller via Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons 3.0

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The legislation, titled the “Innovative Therapies Centers of Excellence Act of 2025,” or S.4031, seeks to designate at least five VA medical facilities as specialized hubs for research and clinical care. Under the proposal, $30 million would be appropriated annually to fund these centers, which would focus on substances such as MDMA, psilocybin, ibogaine and DMT to treat conditions ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder to chronic pain.

The bill was introduced by Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) on March 9.

“Too many veterans are suffering without effective treatment options,” Gallego, a Marine Corps veteran, said in a statement accompanying the bill’s filing. “If emerging therapies like psychedelics show promise, we have a responsibility to study them and ensure veterans have access to the best possible care”.

“The VA can serve as a national proving ground … that could ultimately benefit patients across the entire health care system.”

To ensure high clinical standards, the designated facilities would be required to maintain affiliations with accredited medical schools, or schools of psychiatry and social work—partnerships that would be intended to provide specialized training.

The initiative is supported by veteran advocacy groups that see it as a necessary evolution of the VA health care system. 

Melissa Lavasani, founder and CEO of the Psychedelic Medicine Coalition, believes it has wider significance, as well.

“This legislation represents more than a research initiative; it’s a step toward building the clinical and policy infrastructure needed to responsibly integrate innovative therapies into modern health care,” Lavasani said. “The VA can serve as a national proving ground, helping generate the evidence and care models that could ultimately benefit patients across the entire health care system.”

Sen. McCormick said the bill would help the federal government catch up with rapid developments in the private pharmaceutical industry. In an interview with Military.com, he  emphasized the importance of closing treatment gaps for veterans.

The legislation specifically targets “covered conditions” including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and substance use disorders, in addition to PTSD.

If the bill becomes law, it “will ensure the VA keeps pace with the private sector by expanding access to cutting-edge treatments like MDMA-assisted therapy,” McCormick said. “We owe them nothing less than our very best.”

The legislation specifically targets “covered conditions” including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and substance use disorders, in addition to PTSD. 

“The bill was developed through consultation with stakeholders to ensure the framework reflects both scientific rigor and the real-world needs of veterans,” Amy Rising, a United States Air Force veteran and advocate with direct knowledge of the drafting process, told Filter. She added that the result is a “structured pathway” for the VA to evaluate promising new treatments.

Jay Kopelman, CEO of the veteran-oriented Mission to Live Foundation, heralded S.4031’s filing as a watershed moment. A retired Lieutenant Colonel in the US Marines, he has advocated in support of the bill alongside Lavsani and her organization in recent months. 

“Passing legislation that mandates the research and clinical trials of psychedelic medicines in the VA health system is a quantum leap forward in finally getting veterans access to the life-changing care that they so richly deserve here in the US,” Kopelman told Filter. 

“I thank Senator Gallego and all who support this Act for their courage and recognition that we have a crisis in our veteran population,” he added. “As a former Marine, Senator Gallego knows and understands this better than most.”

The introduction of S.4031 follows a November 2025 announcement by the VA that nine facilities—including locations in Los Angeles, San Diego and the Bronx—are already participating in multi-year studies on psychedelic compounds. 

In terms of the broader landscape of federal psychedelic policy reform efforts, S.4031 arrives alongside its House companion bill (HR 2623) as the third major piece of psychedelics-related legislation filed in the current session.

In December 2025, Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the Freedom to Heal Act. It proposes expanding 2018’s federal Right To Try Law, which granted eligible patients with life-threatening conditions legally-protected access to certain drugs that haven’t been FDA-approved—including Schedule I substances under DEA jurisdiction, like psilocybin, ibogaine and MDMA, that have undergone at least one round of Phase I clinical trials. 

While the Freedom to Heal Act has garnered a number of endorsements from high-profile psychedelic and veteran advocacy organizations, it appears unlikely to advance further. Leaked email correspondence from the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee indicated that the bill lacks the necessary support, as DoubleBlind Magazine reported in February.

Photograph (cropped) of VA hospital in San Antonio by Bill Hathorn via Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons 3.0

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Critics frame this mechanism as “prohibition by default,” and the 2-FDCK move has drawn sharp rebukes from experts and advocates. They say that by criminalizing a compound with virtually no footprint in the illicit market, the DEA will stymie research that could yield the next generation of mental health treatments.

The DEA’s justification for the “emergency” nature of the ban has come in for particular criticism. According to the agency’s own data, 2-FDCK has been encountered by US law enforcement a grand total of 52 times since 2018.  

“Only 52 reports over eight years. In a country of 330 million, that’s a reach that borders on the absurd.”

“The problem is that the DEA defines what ‘imminent hazard’ exactly means,” Robert Rush, a Denver-based attorney and founder of the Rights and Reason Project, told Filter. “For 2-FDCK, the attorney general stated the drug is ‘widespread in the United States,’ based on only 52 reports over eight years. In a country of 330 million, that’s a reach that borders on the absurd.”

Rush, who has been prominent in challenging the DEA’s attempts to schedule other research chemicals, said the agency is using the emergency provision to bypass the rigor of the standard scheduling process. “They are creating a crisis where none exists to justify a policy that avoids the sunlight of a public hearing.”  

Kat Murti, executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), the nation’s largest youth-led drug policy reform organization, shares these concerns.  

“The DEA’s move to emergency-schedule 2-FDCK as a Schedule I substance is drug policy by panic, not evidence, and we will pay for it in blood,” she told Filter. “Emergency scheduling sidesteps scientific review and public-health input, replacing them with blunt enforcement tools that have repeatedly proven deadly.”

“We’ve seen this pattern over and over again: Rushed bans create chaos, not safety,” Murti continued. “Placing ketamine analogs into Schedule I will not eliminate use or make communities safer. It will push people toward increasingly unregulated and unpredictable markets, increase the risk of adulteration and overdose, and expose people—especially young people—to arrest, incarceration, and lifelong consequences.”

“After 30 days, it just becomes illegal. If you were a scientist developing an isomer or derivative compound from it, that’s too bad. Your work stops.”

Unlike the standard scheduling process, which allows for public commentary, scientific hearings and judicial review, emergency scheduling by the DEA essentially bypasses oversight for up to three years.

“The crazy thing about temporary emergency scheduling is that the ability to question its necessity is removed during the temporary period,” Rush noted. “There’s no opportunity to go to court or to have a hearing. After 30 days, it just becomes illegal. If you were a scientist developing an isomer or derivative compound from it, that’s too bad. Your work stops, and your liability begins.”

Of particular concern to the scientific community is that by placing 2-FDCK in Schedule I—the most restrictive class, reserved for drugs with “no currently accepted medical use”—the DEA will also restrict all of its salts, isomers and salts of isomers. This “blanket” approach is liable to freeze research into dozens of potentially beneficial medical compounds, some of which may not even have been fully identified.

The current fight over 2-FDCK is playing out against the backdrop of a recent, high-profile loss for researchers and advocates. In 2024, the DEA moved to ban DOI and DOC, two psychedelic research chemicals, which had between them been cited in over 1,200 National Institutes of Health-funded papers. Though the ban now looks set to go ahead, Robert Rush, working with SSDP, successfully demanded the first psychedelic scheduling hearing at the DEA since the famed MDMA case of 1985.

“The DEA, for too long, has had a rubber stamp in their decision-making processes,” Rush said of the DOI case at the time. “They have not had to defend their actions. I am looking forward to having the DEA defend its decision to criminalize an important research tool that it admits is not being diverted for illicit use. It is time they answered to the American public.”

Murti and SSDP have been vocal about the damage to critical research caused by the DEA’s moves. That’s particularly relevant with the 2-FDCK plan, given that its relative, ketamine, represents one of the few breakthroughs in depression treatment in recent decades.   

“At a time when we face an unprecedented mental health crisis, it is unconscionable for the DEA to claim that harm to research is irrelevant,” Rush said.

“Prohibition enforced through emergency orders is not public health—it’s a policy choice that puts lives at risk.”

Murti and Rush agree that the federal government must pivot away from what they call “reckless prohibition” toward policies that reflect today’s public health needs.

“If policymakers are serious about saving lives from overdose, the federal government must stop expanding emergency prohibition and instead invest in harm reduction, drug checking, evidence-based education and research,” Murti said. “Prohibition enforced through emergency orders is not public health—it’s a policy choice that puts lives at risk.”

Rush also frames the issue as a fundamental question of cognitive liberty—the right of individuals to maintain autonomy over their own mental states. “Restricting 2-FDCK without clear evidence of unique and substantial harm improperly infringes cognitive liberty by criminalizing mental states,” he argued. “Any regulation must be evidence-based, narrowly tailored, and focused on specific harms rather than speculative harms.”

As the DEA moves to finalize the temporary order, the Rights and Reason Project, SSDP and others are aiming, through legal challenges and advocacy, to end the days of “stealth” scheduling.

“They locked LSD, MDMA and psilocybin away, and decades later, we are still fighting to research these drugs with significant therapeutic potential,” Rush said. “Someone needs to fight this reckless prohibition, or we will repeat the mistakes of the past indefinitely.”

Image (adapted) via Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

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The board was established by the passage of Senate Bill 219 earlier in 2025—legislation that made New Mexico the third state to authorize therapeutic psilocybin, after Oregon and Colorado. 

New Mexico’s program is designed to provide treatment for specific qualifying conditions, including major treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, substance use disorders and end-of-life care. It had originally been mandated to be operational by the end of 2027.

State Senator Jeff Steinborn (D), a co-sponsor of the bill, opened the inaugural board meeting by noting that, “this is really a historic day, not just for the state, but really even for the whole country and the whole world.” He described the initiative as part of a “new renaissance of psychedelic medicine,” and encouraged the board to innovate beyond what other states have done. 

“I wanna challenge you to not be afraid to innovate, to make things better than maybe they’ve been in other states.”

“By definition, we’re pioneers and … we’re gonna learn a lot,” Steinborn said. “But I also wanna challenge you to not be afraid to try new things, to innovate, to make things better than maybe they’ve been in other states …  maybe they’ve gone down a road that hasn’t been as fruitful that we need to deviate from.”

According to Dr. Dominick Zurlo, director of the Center for Medical Cannabis and Psilocybin, New Mexico’s Department of Health has already appointed a program manager in anticipation of launching the program one year ahead of schedule, and is actively recruiting for an environmental scientist and a compliance officer.

“Because there has been such large interest in this and a push for us to try to be able to help people with psilocybin treatments earlier, we have set a goal now to have the program at least to be able to see the initial patients by the end of December of 2026,” Zurlo said in his opening remarks at the meeting. 

The seven members of the newly-minted advisory board—selected by the state after a lengthy application and review process—are tasked with creating the regulatory guardrails to enable access to psilocybin treatments while protecting patients.

“Let’s be sure that any acceleration doesn’t unintentionally compromise patient safety, undermine long-term sustainability or limit meaningful public engagement.”

While public interest in early access has driven the decision to speed up the timeline, advocates are urging caution. During the meeting, Denali Wilson, New Mexico Director of Strategic Support for the Healing Advocacy Fund, emphasized the importance of balancing urgency with safety, affordability and a clear code of ethics. 

“New Mexico is poised to lead the country in the integration of psychedelic therapy and our existing health care system,” Wilson said, “and while it is important for the program to move forward with urgency, achieving the right balance of safety, affordability, and equity will require careful attention and thoughtfulness.” 

“Let’s be sure that any acceleration of the regulatory timeline doesn’t unintentionally compromise patient safety, undermine long-term sustainability or limit meaningful public engagement,” she added.

The Healing Advocacy Fund has played a significant role in development, implementation and oversight of regulated psilocybin-assisted therapy programs in Oregon and Colorado—where affordability remains a significant barrier to access. Given New Mexico’s glaring economic disparities, Wilson highlighted that her organization “want[s] to see affordability and equity prioritized.””

“We want to urge full funding of the program’s equity fund and are ready to support the Department’s upcoming budget request to move in this direction,” she continued, and given the expedited roll-out timeline, “the equity fund must also be prioritized in 2026 so that patients can access the services we work together to build.”

Wilson also hinted at the possibility of implementing unique policy solutions to combat the affordability issues that have hampered access in Oregon and Colorado. These might include “allowing group-care models, adopting a broad definition of ‘clinician’ within the rules, authorizing diverse care settings and care teams, including peer support workers and traditional healers, and ultimately, working to ensure that the cost of this care be covered by health insurance.”

“Fingers crossed that this will happen in time. We are staying hopeful.”

Other community leaders in New Mexico cautiously welcomed the plan for an accelerated regulatory rollout. 

Deborah Thorne, an integrative mental health specialist and founder of Sol Tryp—a Las Cruces-based nonprofit engaged in psychedelic healing, methods, teaching, research and reciprocity—played an instrumental role in educating state lawmakers on the merits of psilocybin-assisted therapy in the run-up to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) signing the NM Medical Psilocybin Act into law back in April. 

From Thorne’s vantage point, the prospect of a faster roll-out sounds promising, but she told Filter that, “it will require a significant amount of dedication and hours by the advisory board to establish rules and regulations to jump cleanly through the logistical hoops ahead.” 

“Furthermore, the process of training facilitators, prescribers, and establishing vetted facilities in every New Mexican municipality is paramount,” Thorne elaborated. “We need to have well established training programs on board providing comprehensive didactics and experiential components of a qualified certification program.” 

“Fingers crossed that this will happen in time,” she said. “We are staying hopeful.”

Adele Getty—co-founder of the Limina Foundation, a prominent Santa Fe-based psychedelic education nonprofit, and member of the Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative—told Filter that following an influx in philanthropic support in the wake of SB219’s passage, her organization, “now [has] $100,000 that we will use for education of the public and supporting worthy efforts and needs as they arise in New Mexico.”

“We are very grateful for the support we received” Getty added, “and looking forward to how we can help bring this healing therapy to those in need.”

The board’s next public meeting is set for December 12.

The Medical Psilocybin Advisory Board’s composition reflects goals of equitable access and cultural sensitivity, plus other areas of expertise. Among its members, DezBaa (also known as Sharon Henderson), is an Indigenous advocate, geologist and actor, whose stated aim is to ensure the regulatory framework honors traditional healing methodologies. Dan Jennings, president and founder of the nonprofit HagermanForward, brings long experience with youth homelessness and justice-involved populations in rural New Mexico.

Dr. Alanna Dancis, who holds certifications in MDMA and ketamine-assisted therapies, is acting medical director of the New Mexico Medicaid program, bringing a focus on health systems and benefit implementation. Other members include Brenda S. Burgard, president of Decriminalization for Psychedelics of New Mexico, and family and addiction medicine practitioner Dr. Larry Leeman. Chris Peskuski is a Marine Corps combat veteran and ambassador for the Heroic Hearts Project, a veterans’ psychedelic advocacy organization.

The group is led by newly-appointed Chair Ian Dunn, a nursing student and policy advocate focused on balancing innovation with public trust.

The board’s next public meeting is set for December 12.

Photograph by Mädi via Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons 3.0

Correction, December 10: The original version of this article described Dr. Zurlo as having previously served on the Maryland Psychedelic Task Force. This is not the case, though he assist that group by reviewing documents.

The post New Mexico to Accelerate Launch of Therapeutic Psilocybin Access appeared first on Filter.

The group originally sued the Oregon Health Authority in 2024, to enable homebound disabled and dying Oregonians to access psilocybin under the state’s Psilocybin Services Act. The core of their complaint alleges that by restricting services to licensed centers and excluding those who are unable to travel, the state is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The plaintiffs, a group of specialized psilocybin providers, filed a brief in a federal District Court in Oregon on October 10, opposing the state’s second attempt to have the case dismissed.

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) had filed a Motion for Judgement on the Pleadings, arguing that the plaintiffs lacked standing to raise a claim under the ADA on behalf of their terminally ill and disabled clients.

That move came a year after the OHA filed a similar motion to dismiss the lawsuit on comparable grounds—a motion that was denied in June.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that the OHA is merely attempting to avoid a review of the merits of the suit, thereby perpetuating the unlawful exclusion of a vulnerable population.

“OHA seeks to evade ADA compliance … Delay in enabling access can mean that patients who might have obtained relief will die in unrelieved suffering.”

“Plaintiff Facilitators have sufficiently alleged standing on their behalf and on the behalf of their disabled and dying clients,” said Kathryn Tucker of the National Psychedelics Association, one of the attorneys representing them.

She said the state’s position attempts to sidestep the requirement for ADA compliance in the operation of the Psilocybin Services Act.

“OHA seeks to evade ADA compliance in its operation of the PSA, which unlawfully discriminates against these Oregonians,” Tucker told Filter. “Delay in enabling access can mean that patients who might have obtained relief from debilitating anxiety and depression will die in unrelieved suffering.”

The Psilocybin Services Act, which Oregon voters passed in 2020 to establish a legal, regulated framework for supervised psilocybin use, includes specific legislative findings and purpose statements that indicate an intent to serve populations like the terminally ill. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit contend that the current rules, which mandate service only at licensed centers, directly contradict this purpose.

The plaintiffs are seeking a court order to require the OHA to develop a process for home service as a reasonable accommodation, and to notify all licensed facilitators that such accommodations are permitted without fear of disciplinary action.

The ongoing litigation highlights the tension between the state’s groundbreaking regulatory framework and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires public entities to provide reasonable accommodations to ensure services are accessible to people with disabilities. The previous ruling that denied the OHA’s motion to dismiss suggested that requiring ADA compliance—such as access accommodations—would not necessarily compel the state to violate federal law against the distribution of a Schedule I controlled substance.

OHA’s stance leaves facilitators who wish to serve homebound clients in a precarious position, risking the loss of their licenses or worse if they provide services.

However, the OHA maintains that the current state law, as written, offers no legal pathway for psilocybin to be consumed outside of a licensed service center, and that accommodating home use would violate the statute. This stance leaves facilitators who wish to serve their homebound clients in a precarious position, risking the loss of their licenses or worse if they provide services outside the regulated centers.

Oregon Health Authority officials did not respond to Filter’s requests for comment.

Meanwhile, a key population of Oregonians that the Psilocybin Services Act was in part intended to help remain cut off from access. The plaintiffs argue that the delay in providing accessible services has had profound consequences, particularly for terminally ill people whose time to potentially transform the remainder of their lives is limited.

If the federal court once again denies the OHA’s motion to dismiss the case, a substantive ruling on whether the state must make accommodations to allow in-home psilocybin services for such clients will be a step closer. The outcome could significantly broaden access to the state’s pioneering psilocybin program. It could also influence how other states design their own programs going forward.

“We hope the Court will deny this attempt to avoid review of the merits, move the case forward, and ensure access for disabled and dying Oregonians, who are among those who could benefit most from psilocybin services,” Tucker concluded.

Photograph (cropped) via Picryl/Public Domain

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