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Psychedelic mushrooms and Minnesota
Psychedelic mushroom decriminalization and research is likely to come before Minnesota politicians this legislative sessions. FOX 9's Corin Hoggard has the latest from a task force that has convened to study their usage, and what it all could mean for Minnesotans.
(FOX 9) - Psychedelic mushrooms will be on the minds of Minnesota state legislators come January. The state’s psychedelic medicine task force agreed Monday to recommend letting people use them without worrying about getting arrested.
Psilocybin decriminalization recommended
It’s just decriminalization for natural mushrooms with psilocybin, but there might have to be more magic involved because there’s no leeway for growing them or sharing them. But psychedelic mushrooms are moving closer to clearance in Minnesota.
A supermajority of the psychedelic medicine task force came out in support of decriminalization on Monday.
Full legalization could create a safer market
Full legalization isn’t on the table for now, but researchers say it could create a safer market.
"Public safety would involve regulations, so people know what they’re getting, people aren’t being sold things that don’t have what they say they are, like we’re seeing with these Diamond Shruumz," said Dr. Jessica Nielson, a psychedelic drug researcher who chairs the task force.
The legal and possibly psychoactive products she mentioned got recalled and the FDA says they landed 70 people in the hospital and may have killed three.
Advancing MDMA, LSD, psilocybin studies
An FDA panel also recently rejected MDMA as a PTSD treatment in their first consideration of a Schedule I psychedelic for medical use.
The Minnesota task force is recommending more studies on how psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA might be worthwhile.
"The advantage of MDMA is it instantly creates rapport with, you know, say, a veteran and their therapist where they wouldn't maybe be able to get in the right state of mind to be helped at all, especially with PTSD," said task force member Rep. Nolan West (R-Blaine).
Some task force members also argued that legalizing medical use of psychedelics wouldn’t lead to shady doctors handing out prescriptions because they’re still considered Schedule I narcotics and federal restrictions are in place.
"I’m going to guarantee you that no one in the State of Minnesota that doesn’t have a DEA Schedule License 1, which is only for research, is going to want to put their license on the line," said Dr. Ranji Varghese, a task force member who runs a ketamine clinic in Eden Prairie.
But after more than a year of meetings, the task force didn’t go as far as approving medical use.
It will instead tell the legislature to clear the path for more funding and research into MDMA and LSD as treatments and to create a state-regulated program for the clinical administration of psilocybin-containing mushrooms.
Are recommendations likely to be law?
And ultimately, its recommendations are just suggestions. They’re not binding on lawmakers.
"Any legislation, this is probably going to be a starting point," said task force member Rep. Andy Smith (DFL-Rochester).
Task force members are done creating recommendations after Monday, but they’re still finalizing the report they’ll present to the legislature in January.
And it’s too early to tell how likely it is that those recommendations become law.