There is a push to expand therapeutic access to Psilocybin in Missouri as a republican lawmaker plans to file a revised psychedelic bill.
Revision Of The Psychedelic Bill
Last year, Rep. Tony Lovasco introduced a bill allowing patients with depression or post-traumatic disorder access to psychedelics like psilocybin in the Missouri House of Representatives. The bill would permit patients in care facilities to access a new option for care. However, legislators met it with skepticism, with many noting that psilocybin is a Schedule 1 drug and some voicing that more research still needed to be done. The bill did not advance after receiving a hearing in the House of Health and Mental Health Policy.
The revised bill that Lovasco plans to file in the coming days has been modified with input from a key committee. The modifications to the previous version include a more tailored administration of psilocybin, with access to the psychedelic being granted to treatment-resistant patients in clinical settings struggling with depression and post-traumatic stress. Lovasco explained the revised bill would focus on a “select group of people who basically have exhausted other treatment options for their conditions and need just another option that their physician could recommend.”
A Step In The Right Direction
Lawmakers are interested in discussing the possibility of granting access to patients. Rep. Michael Davis has also made efforts to legalize access for patients with severe conditions.
Missouri has been slow to embrace plant medicines, but with the recent legalization of cannabis in the state and this bill, it is taking a big step forward. It is a path toward acceptance of psychedelics in places like the midwest, which are typically slow to embrace plant medicines. The bill is part of a growing trend that is seeing more and more states legalizing or decriminalizing psychedelics for medical purposes.
Even though Lovasco’s psychedelic bill did not advance in the previous, the revised version seems to have received interest from lawmakers. The bill is not only a step towards greater acceptance of psilocybin, but it will allow patients an added option of treatment when all else does not work for them.
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