A pair of California senators introduced a bipartisan bill June 6 that would allow psychedelic treatments for military veterans and first responders with mental health problems.
A similar bill seeking to legalize the substances on a broader scale stalled in May.
The bill is narrowly tailored to serve military veterans and first responders, who are known to struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health issues as a result of their service.
“We have a responsibility to do everything possible to provide quality care to these heroes, and I am proud to joint-author this bipartisan effort that will have a real impact on the people who serve our state and country,” Mr. Becker, a Democrat from Menlo Park, said in the press release.
The pilot program would sunset after three years and require data collection and reporting at the two-year mark.
The three counties would name a program director who must be a licensed physician or surgeon, clinical social worker, clinical psychologist, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, professional clinical counselor, or a naturopathic doctor, according to the bill’s text.
The bill also requires a “suitability screening” for eligible participants, to ensure they are safe candidates for the treatment.
Mr. Jones, a San Diego Republican, highlighted the targeted nature of the legislation, stating, “To be clear, I’m not calling for the widespread legalization of psychedelic drugs. Rather, I’m championing a targeted medical treatment aimed specifically at aiding veterans and first responders in their recovery.”
The Heal Our Heroes Act is sponsored by Heroic Hearts Project, Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), and Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS). It is waiting to be heard by the Assembly Committee on Health and Public Safety.
“I know firsthand that psilocybin, when used responsibly and with support, has the potential to save the lives of California’s veterans,” military veteran Jason Moore Brown, a member of Heroic Hearts, said in the press release. “This pilot program is the responsible first step to reducing, and hopefully ending, the veteran suicide epidemic.”
Efforts to Legalize Psychedelic Therapy for All
Last month, a bill by Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, would have legalized psychedelics-assisted therapy for all Californians. It was ultimately held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.“We’ve been working for four years to legalize access to psychedelics in California, to bring these substances out of the shadows and into the sunlight, and to improve safety and education around their use,” Mr. Wiener said in a May 16 press release. “It’s disappointing for this bill not to move forward.”
Those opposed to the bill include the California Coalition Against Drugs, a statewide organization of law enforcement groups, whose vice president, Frank Lee, told The Epoch Times the latest bill looks like another attempt to legalize drugs after Mr. Wiener’s earlier bill died.
“This is just a way that allows them to keep fighting for psychedelics. During the last four years, we worked very hard, and we blocked all their attempts to legalize psychedelics,” Mr. Lee said.
He criticized the move to “gut and amend” an earlier version of SB 803 that was related to employment contracts by state agencies, which had been placed on the suspense file. The maneuver allows lawmakers to revive a bill with new and unrelated content.
“SB 803 is not a psychedelics bill. It was a bill related to contracts, and it went through policy committees, getting all the way up to the Senate, and now it’s going to the Assembly,” he said. “But they gutted the bill, removed all the content and put in psychedelics content. It’s coming from nowhere.”
As president of the coalition, representing law enforcement groups across the state, Mr. Lee said he’s aware of many Republican and Democratic lawmakers who are against the bill as well as law enforcement groups, including the Riverside State Sheriff’s Association.
The coalition and its members have previously disputed the sources used by lawmakers to suggest drugs like psilocybin are effective in treating mental health. According to Mr. Lee, two studies that lawmakers like Mr. Wiener often use actually suggest the drug isn’t ready for widespread use.
One such study by John Hopkins University found psilocybin to be effective when used in depression treatment. However, in a press release on the study, Natalie Gukasyan, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, stated that the promising medical effect was “under carefully controlled conditions,” and cautioned that “people should not attempt to try it on their own.”
Critics point out that Mr. Jones and Becker’s bill doesn’t cite the two studies, define “first responder,” or specify under what conditions a patient could return to work.
“The bill does not prohibit police officers from taking magic mushrooms and going back to work,” Mr. Lee said.
The off-duty pilot had been sitting in the cockpit jumpseat to commute between airports.
Opponents with the coalition reference the pilot’s example in their arguments against the legalization of psychedelics, even for medical use.“Even though he was handcuffed, the drug still empowered him to try to turn off the engine. There are many medications for pain and depression without the serious negative consequences. Our veterans deserve better than being guinea pigs,” opponents wrote in an April bill analysis of Senate Bill 1012, which would have legalized the medical usage of certain psychedelics including psilocybin.
