A California campaign has officially filed a proposed initiative for the state’s 2024 ballot that would create a $5 billion state agency tasked with funding and promoting psychedelics research that it hopes will accelerate federal legalization of substances like psilocybin and ibogaine.
As a separate campaign collects signatures for a psilocybin legalization ballot measure, proponents of the new “TREAT California Act” are seeking funding for their novel measure, which would not directly legalize or decriminalize psychedelics in the state.
Instead, the campaign—which is led by a team of seasoned strategists who previously championed successful ballot initiatives related to stem cell research—is aiming to create an agency they’re calling the Treatment, Research, Education, Access and Therapies (TREAT) Institute to identify opportunities for advancing science into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics to address serious mental health conditions like depression and addiction.
“The TREAT Institute will not be a typical government agency; it will be an innovative, effective, and lean organization that will provide a consistent, sustainable funding source,” the text of the proposed initiative to amend the state Constitution says.
“TREAT California is not a direct decriminalization or legalization effort; and it is not an initiative driven by an elected official,” it
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