Last Monday, an Oklahoma Senate committee approved a psilocybin research bill, which would allow for the cultivation and administration of the substance by some institutions, Marijuana Moment reported. However, an initial decriminalization provision had to be amended for the bill to pass.
The legislation was presented by Sen. Daniel Pae (R) and originally established that conducting studies without a license, participating in a trial without certification, or possessing psilocybin outside of the confines of research would be subject to a maximum $400 fine without the threat of facing jail time. But that was taken off the bill by the approving committee and is now just for research purposes.
With the unanimous approval of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on a 9-0 vote, the measure would authorize research institutes to obtain psilocybin and investigate the treatment efficacy of the substance for ten different conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder, severe depression, and opioid use disorder.
The institutions that wanted to study the benefits of psilocybin would have to register with both the state Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. In the case of individuals, those interested in participating in psilocybin clinical trials would require written certification from a physician. Researchers would still need to be registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to study psilocybin.
Pae’s bill was given the green light by the Oklahoma House in early March and goes hand in hand with Rep. Logan Phillips' (R) proposed bill.
Photo courtesy from Wikimedia Commons
