New Hampshire lawmakers advanced a bipartisan bill to legalize the regulated use of psilocybin for medical purposes, while rejecting a separate measure on therapeutic access to the psychedelic.
Weeks after holding an initial hearing on both proposals, the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee voted 18-0 on Wednesday to approve HB 1809 from Rep. Buzz Scherr (D) but 11-7 to reject HB 1796 from Rep. Michael Moffett (R).
The votes took place on the same day that members of a separate committee considered a proposal to let voters decide on legalizing marijuana on the ballot.
The psilocybin legislation that advanced, meanwhile, would create a regulatory pathway for patients with certain conditions to access the psychedelic for therapeutic use through a program overseen by the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Moffett’s measure is more prescriptive about the proposed regulatory framework compared Scherr’s bill.
At Wednesday’s committee meeting, Rep. Yury Polozov (R) called psilocybin “an important medication, naturally occurring that can save lives.”
Rep. Lucy Weber (D) said she supported HB 1809 but not HB 1796 due to the budgetary implications of the latter proposal, calling it “fiscally imprudent.”
At the earlier committee hearing this
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