New Hampshire Lawmakers Approve Bipartisan Bill To Legalize Psilocybin For Medical Use, While Rejecting Separate Psychedelics Measure

New Hampshire lawmakers advanced a bipartisan bill to legalize the regulated use of psilocybin for medical purposes, while rejecting a separate measure on therapeutic access to the psychedelic.

Weeks after holding an initial hearing on both proposals, the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee voted 18-0 on Wednesday to approve HB 1809 from Rep. Buzz Scherr (D) but 11-7 to reject HB 1796 from Rep. Michael Moffett (R).

The votes took place on the same day that members of a separate committee considered a proposal to let voters decide on legalizing marijuana on the ballot.

The psilocybin legislation that advanced, meanwhile, would create a regulatory pathway for patients with certain conditions to access the psychedelic for therapeutic use through a program overseen by the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

Moffett’s measure is more prescriptive about the proposed regulatory framework compared Scherr’s bill.

At Wednesday’s committee meeting, Rep. Yury Polozov (R) called psilocybin “an important medication, naturally occurring that can save lives.”

Rep. Lucy Weber (D) said she supported HB 1809 but not HB 1796 due to the budgetary implications of the latter proposal, calling it “fiscally imprudent.”

At the earlier committee hearing this month, Jenny O’Higgins of DHHS said officials have some concerns around the lack of appropriated funds in Moffett’s legislation, saying the department would “not be able to absorb” the program under its current budget.

Here are the key provisions of HB 1809, which advanced:

“The medical community has always recognized that patients exist with serious conditions that are very resistant to effective treatment,” a statement of purpose for the measure says. “Recently, research has begun to show that certain of those patients have had positive results with the closely supervised use of psilocybin for treatment.”

“Patients with significant post-traumatic stress disorder, with treatment-resistant clinical depression, and with serious substance use disorder have been shown to benefit from the controlled, therapeutic use of psilocybin in a supervised setting,” it says. “The purpose of this act is to create a carefully monitored and closely supervised setting in which an approved medical provider can treat a carefully chosen patient with appropriate doses of psilocybin which that same provider has produced for a medical intervention.”

Here are the main details of HB 1796, which was rejected:

“The purpose of the Therapeutic Psilocybin Act is to allow the beneficial use of psilocybin in a regulated system for alleviating qualified medical conditions,” the bill’s statement of purpose says.

The prospects of either psilocybin bill advancing to enactment into law this session remain unclear, but lawmakers have been increasingly active in pursuing psychedelics reform in recent years.

Last June, the New Hampshire Senate voted to scrap compromise legislation that would have lowered the state’s criminal penalty for first-time psilocybin possession while also creating mandatory minimum sentences around fentanyl.

As originally introduced, the legislation would have completely removed penalties around obtaining, purchasing, transporting, possessing or using psilocybin, effectively legalizing it on a noncommercial basis. However a House committee amended the bill before unanimously advancing it last March.

— Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments. Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access. —

Meanwhile in New Hampshire, the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday took up legislation from Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D) that would put the issue of marijuana legalization before voters at the ballot this November.

The House earlier this month also approved a bill to legalize marijuana in the state—though its chances of passage in the Senate remain dubious, and the governor has expressed clear opposition to the reform.

In the Senate, meanwhile, the Judiciary Committee last week took up a bill from Sen. Donovan Fenton (D) that would allow adults over the age of 21 to legally possess up to four ounces of cannabis in plant form and 20 grams of concentrated cannabis products, as well as other products containing no more than 2,000 milligrams of THC.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) has already threatened to veto any legalization bill that reaches her desk, though the constitutional amendment proposal would not require gubernatorial action.

The governor said in August that her position on the reform would not change even if the federal government moved forward with rescheduling the plant. Since then, President Donald Trump has directed the attorney general to finalize the process of moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Meanwhile, the House also approved a bill this month from Rep. Wendy Thomas (D) that would allow medical marijuana dispensaries (known as “alternative treatment centers,” or ATCs, in the state) to convert their dispensary licenses to become for-profit entities. HB 54, which passed on the consent calendar with other legislation, previously advanced unanimously out of the House Finance Committee.

Part of the motivation behind the legislation is the fact that medical marijuana dispensaries don’t qualify for federal non-profit status. But in the state, they’re considered non-profit organizations, which has resulted in disproportionately increased operating costs.

Image courtesy of CostaPPR.