California lawmakers have pulled from consideration a bipartisan bill that would have authorized a pilot program to provide psilocybin treatment to military veterans and former first responders.
The legislation, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R) and Sen. Josh Becker (D), was effectively killed about a week after it was amended to narrow eligibility criteria for participants and facilitators who could administer the psychedelic. The sponsors decided at a Tuesday hearing against seeking to advance it further after the chair of the Assembly Health Committee recommended a “no” vote and there wasn’t enough support in the panel to move it forward, advocates said.
The “Heal Our Heroes Act” was introduced as an amendment to an unrelated Senate-passed bill that was on the Assembly floor at the time. It would have allowed the counties of San Francisco, Santa Cruz and San Diego to establish pilot programs where military veterans and former first responders could receive psilocybin treatment with a licensed facilitator.
As filed, the measure said more broadly that “first responders” would have been eligible, without the “former” caveat. The legislation has also been updated to clarify that active duty military cannot participate.
The bill was further revised to limit
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