California Senator Reintroduces Bill to Decriminalize Psychedelics

by Omar Figueroa

December 17, 2022

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) molecule.

California State Senator Scott Wiener has reintroduced a bill for the 2023-2024 Legislative Session to decriminalize certain psychedelics under California law.  Senate Bill 58 has significant legislative support, and is co-authored by Assemblymembers Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley), Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), Alex Lee (D-Fremont), and Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) as well as Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton).  Senate Bill 58 is the successor to Senate Bill 519 from the 2021-2022 Legislative Session.   Unlike SB 519, SB 58 would not affect the legal status of LSD or MDMA, which are treated as controlled substances under California law.

According to Senator Weiner’s Press Release:

Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Bill 58, to decriminalize the possession and personal use of certain psychedelic drugs. SB 58 is backed by a broad coalition, including combat veterans.

Research from top medical universities shows that these substances can have significant benefits, particularly for treating mental health and substance use disorders, and decriminalizing their personal use is part of the larger movement to end the racist War on Drugs and its failed and destructive policies.

The following substances are included in SB 58: psilocybin, psilocyn, Dimethyltryptamine (“DMT”), mescaline (excluding peyote), and ibogaine. In 2021, Senator Wiener’s psychedelics decriminalization legislation, SB 519, passed the Senate. It passed two Assembly Committees but then stalled in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

This legislation follows similar, successful local efforts to decriminalize these substances in Washington, D.C., Oakland, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz, as well as successful Oregon and Colorado ballot measures.

Studies show that psychedelics have great promise in treating mental health and substance use disorders. In two different clinical trials, psilocybin was shown to reduce symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant depression. A John Hopkins study showed a decrease in depression and anxiety in cancer patients using psilocybin, and another showed promise for smoking cessation.  In both 2018 and 2019, the FDA issued Breakthrough Therapy distinction to psilocybin (the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms”).

Observational studies have also documented the use of ayahuasca (which contains DMT) and ibogaine as potential treatments for substance use disorder. There’s also evidence that psychedelics can help with smoking cessation.

In the past few years, the mental health and addiction crises have worsened. Since the onset of the pandemic, so many people have dealt with unemployment and financial distress, a lack of community and social isolation, and loss of friends or family — anxiety, depression, overdose and suicide rates are up across the country. With many people seeking treatment for these conditions, it’s critical that we look to alternatives to criminalizing and incarcerating people who are using psychedelics to heal.

For veterans, many of whom live with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), access to psychedelics can be lifesaving. Veterans die by suicide at a rate of 1.5 times the general public. That’s why Veterans Affairs is studying psychedelic therapy, and why so many veterans are advocating for the decriminalization of psychedelics.

SB 58 is sponsored by Heroic Hearts Project, a veteran service organization. Heroic Hearts connects veterans to psychedelic therapy for treating complex trauma. In the past few years, Heroic Hearts has become an international voice for veterans demanding effective mental health treatment options.

Senate Bill 58 would decriminalize up to four grams of mescaline per adult (age 21 and older)  as long as the mescaline is not derived from peyote but rather “derived from plants presently classified botanically in the Echinopsis or Trichocereus genus of cacti, including, without limitation, the Bolivian Torch Cactus, San Pedro Cactus, or Peruvian Torch Cactus.”  Proposed Health & Safety Code §§ 11054(d)(14) & 11350.1(g)(1).

The proposed bill would also set forth the allowable amounts for other substances, including DMT, Ibogaine, and plants or fungi containing psilocyn and psilocybin.  Proposed Health & Safety Code § 11377.1(g) states, in relevant part:

(g) As used in this section, the following terms are defined as follows:

(1) “Allowable amount” means the following quantities of a substance per person or, in the context of facilitated or supported use involving multiple persons, the aggregate of allowable amounts per participant. “Allowable amount” does not include the weight of any material of which the substance is a part or to which the substance is added, dissolved, held in solution, or suspended, or any ingredient or material combined with the substance specified in this subdivision to prepare a topical or oral administration, food, drink, or other product, including, but not limited to, a brew or tea:

(A) Two grams of dimethyltryptamine, otherwise known as DMT.

(B) Fifteen grams of ibogaine.

(C) Two grams of psilocybin or four ounces of a plant or fungi containing psilocybin.

(D) Two grams of psilocyn or four ounces of a plant or fungi containing psilocyn.

(2) “Facilitated or supported use” means the supervised or assisted personal use of a substance described in this section by an individual or group of persons 21 years of age or older, or the assisting or supervising of such persons in such use, within the context of counseling, spiritual guidance, community-based healing, or related services.

(3) “Financial gain” means the receipt of money or other valuable consideration in exchange for the item being transferred. “Financial gain” does not include reasonable fees for counseling, spiritual guidance, or related services that are provided in conjunction with facilitated or supported use of a controlled substance described in this section under the guidance and supervision, and on the premises, of the person providing those services.

Critically, proposed subdivision (g) of Health & Safety Code § 11377.1 would legalize the transfer of allowable amounts of such controlled substances “without financial gain, between persons 21 years of age and older, and in the context of facilitated or supported use.”  A similar provision would legalize the transfer of four grams of mescaline “derived from plants presently classified botanically in the Echinopsis or Trichocereus genus of cacti, including, without limitation, the Bolivian Torch Cactus, San Pedro Cactus, or Peruvian Torch Cactus” provided such transfer is without financial gain, between adults, and in the context of facilitated or supported use. Proposed Health & Safety Code § 11350.1(h).

This points the way to a future psychedelic economy whereby, in the context of faciliated or supported use involving multiple persons, the transfer without financial gain of psychedelics would be 100% legal under state law.  This is because, in the context of the “facilitated or supported use”, the service provider is allowed “the aggregate of allowable amounts per participant.”  Since there is no limit on the number of allowable participants, in theory there would be no limit on the aggregate of allowable amounts under state law, meaning that large group events involving large quantities of psychedelics are not out of the question.  While psychedelics could not be sold for financial gain under state law, psychedelic service providers would be allowed allowed to charge “reasonable fees for counseling, spiritual guidance, or related services that are provided in conjunction with facilitated or supported use.”