Another new Assembly Bill with narrower focus quickly gains support
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!A bill to decriminalize plant-based psychedelic drugs was passed by the Senate Public Safety Committee this week completing the bill’s first major hurdle, while a new major challenge to the bill has quickly gained support in the Assembly.
First introduced in December of last year, Senate Bill 58 by Senator Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) would decriminalize plant-based and other natural hallucinogens such as psilocybin (magic mushrooms), dimethyltryptamine (psychedelic drug DMT), ibogaine (psychedelic substance), and mescaline (psychedelic hallucinogen). In addition, law enforcement would be unable to charge those holding the drugs with a criminal penalty while also still being completely illegal for minors.
SB 58 would also remove bans on having psilocybin or psilocyn spores that can produce mushrooms and on having drug paraphernalia associated with all decriminalized drugs.
The bill is a significantly pared down version of SB 519, first introduced in January 2021 by Weiner that would have not only legalized the psychedelics in SB 58, but also would have included synthetic hallucinogens such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), ketamine (“dissociative anesthetic”), and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy, molly). However, the bill was amended heavily in 2021 and 2022, removing ketamine and other troubling parts for legislators and oppositions groups, such as law enforcement agencies. Despite the changes, the bill was still gutted in August, removing everything but a single study on the use of the remaining drugs. SB 58 continued to water down the bill, removing peyote from the proposed decriminalization list and removing a provision to study future reforms.
The effort to make the decriminalization more palatable for lawmakers appeared to be working on Tuesday, with the Senate Public Safety Committee voting 3-1 to pass the bill.
Before the vote on Tuesday, Senator Wiener noted that “These are not addictive drugs. And these are drugs that have significant potential in helping people to navigate and to become healthy who are experiencing mental health, challenges substance use challenges.”
“We know that cities in California and elsewhere have passed resolutions to categorize enforcement of these particular criminal laws as the lowest law enforcement priority. This is an important step for California. This is about making sure that people have access to substances that they need that are not addictive.”
Rival bill in Assembly expected to challenge SB 58
However, while SB 58 did ultimately move this week, another bill on the horizon in the Assembly is now threatening to derail it. Assembly Bill 941, authored by Assemblywoman Marie Waldron (R-Valley Center), was introduced last month. According to AB 941, certain psychedelic drugs would be green-lighted for use, but only in psychedelic-assisted therapy sessions for combat veterans.
The bill, also known as the End Veteran Suicide Act, takes a more cautious approach and would authorize a licensed professional clinical counselor to administer controlled substances to combat veterans. Psychedelic-assisted therapy would be required to take place over a minimum of 30 sessions, with therapy sessions to be a minimum of 12 hours in duration. The bill would also require 2 or 3 licensed professional clinical counselors present per patient at a psychedelic-assisted therapy session.
While the bill is currently awaiting to be heard in the Assembly, many law enforcement and medical professionals noted that AB 941 is preferable to SB 58 due to more of a controlled and monitored use, as well as the serving as more of a test to see if psychedelic treatments could then be expanded to more Californians in a safe and effective manner.
“Wiener’s bill is more one size fits all,” explained former police officer and current drug counselor Marty Ribera to the Globe on Thursday. “This other bill is a bit more tailored. Psychedelic treatment isn’t for everyone. And rather than just decriminalize willy-nilly, AB 941 can help bring along a pathway to use them for good, and more critically, to identify the people who can benefit from their treatment and making sure that using them would not bring on any negative side effects like depression, long-term psychosis, or in more of a social context, bad trips.”
“We need this to be on a case by case basis and to have a small pool to test on to make sure his type of therapy can work like this. Psychedelics can help treat major issues like PTSD. We have the research. But we also see psychedelics ruin peoples lives. I’ve always said, for every success story there are two others that tried it on their own and ruined their life. We need to be open to this as a treatment, but also very cautious about it.”
No wonder we suffer the consequences of having so many dopey losers in the population.
They don’t call all this stuff dope for no reason.
Just what our society needs. Government support of more drugs that allow people to escape from reality. The message is “When life gets tough it is OK to get high”.
Today illegal drugs are killing people faster than our wars did. The Biden Administration is ignoring the supply side of the problem with China and Mexican cartels making billions exporting death.
Envelopes with cash are being passed around the country every day to maintain a status quo of failed drug enforcement. A complicit government stands by with eyes closed, as well paid salesmen murder our vulnerable youth.
Just what we need, more drivers on the road legally using psychedelics.
Singapore has no drug problems. You sell drugs there and they execute you. The penalty fits the crime.