A Republican Missouri lawmaker filed a bill on Wednesday that would provide therapeutic access to psilocybin for people with serious mental health conditions.
Rep. Tony Lovasco (R) introduced the legislation, which has been revised from an earlier version he worked to advance last year. It’s one of the latest examples of how legislators across the U.S. are approaching psychedelics reform for the 2023 session.
Under the new proposal, patients could obtain psilocybin for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe depression, terminal illness or any other condition where traditional therapies haven’t worked if approved by regulators.
The bill, HB 869, doesn’t seek to amend state drug statute by legalizing psilocybin; rather, it provides affirmative defenses against criminal prosecution for patients who possess up to four grams of the psychedelic, as well as doctors, caregivers and professionals who provide psilocybin services.
The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) would hold regulatory responsibility. Any person could petition the department to add a qualifying condition for psilocybin, and regulators must approve the petition if the person establishes that there’s evidence that the natural medicine “benefits persons with the proposed condition in a manner equal to or greater than the benefit”
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