California Bill to Legalize Psychedelic Treatment Centers Fails

The California proposal to legalize treatment centers for therapeutic psychedelics has failed for the year after Democrats in the Senate Appropriations Committee last week dropped it alongside hundreds of bills, the LA Times reports.

Senate Bill 1012 or the “Regulated Psychedelic Facilitators Act,” sponsored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D), sought to legalize treatment centers where adults aged 21+ could have supervised access to psychedelic substances including psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, MDMA, and mescaline.

“We’ve been working for four years to legalize access to psychedelics in California, to bring these substances out of the shadows and into the sunlight, and to improve safety and education around their use. We’re in a terrible budget year, where all bills with significant costs are at risk. Nevertheless, it’s disappointing for this bill not to move forward.” — Weiner, in a statement

Weiner’s attempt this year at psychedelic reforms in California was a step back from last year’s decriminalization proposal covering certain psychedelic plants including mescaline, DMT, psilocybin, and psilocin; that proposal, however, was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

The “Regulated Psychedelic Facilitators Act” had been crafted to address concerns raised last year in the governor’s veto message. The proposal included training and licensing requirements for would-be psychedelic facilitators, provisions for a new regulatory agency in charge of overseeing the facilities, and public education initiatives covering the safe use of psychedelics.