Magic mushrooms in jars. Studies suggest psilocybin, the fungi-found psychedelic known as magic mushrooms, can assist patients with depression. Yet a clear plan to legalize and administer the drug for the increasing number of mentally ill people in Vermont has hit its second roadblock in one year.
A bill earlier this year originally would have decriminalized psilocybin and created a group to study the drug’s use in medicine, but legislators decided to pass a version only establishing the study group. After signing that bill into law in May, Gov. Phil Scott formed the Psychedelic Advisory Working Group, a group of nine mental health experts that met five times between July and October to review research on psychedelic use and programs in other states.
A couple of weeks ago, the group published its final report and did not agree on a plan to legalize mushrooms in Vermont. The group hopes to continue the conversation by studying research from across the country on psychedelics.
“My takeaway was there are a lot of qualms. The only operating state is in Oregon, where access isn’t easy,” Jessa Barnard, executive director of the Vermont Medical Society and a member of the advisory group, said. “The answer isn’t straightforward.”
Oregon Psilocybin Services, part of that state’s health agency, does not refer to its program as a treatment, Barnard said. Since psychedelics are federally illegal, Oregonians who administer the drug cannot do so in a medical facility and are not allowed to make diagnoses, she said. It usually costs clients $1,000 to $3,000 and up for a session at Oregon’s service centers, the regulated businesses where licensed professionals called facilitators guide people on their trip, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Rates are up to each service center and facilitator.
Barnard said many people from the working group had problems with Oregon’s model due to its inaccessibility and its separation from the traditional health care system.
The question of legality does not stop people in Vermont from using psychedelics.
“There is a cultural side to this story,” Tom Fontana, a substance abuse counselor at the University of Vermont’s Center for Health and Wellbeing, said. […]
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