US Representatives Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) have filed the Validating Independence for State Initiatives on Organic Natural Substances (VISIONS) Act to protect state psilocybin laws.
Psilocybin mushrooms.
The new bill would make it so that federal funds would be prohibited from being used to “prevent any State or unit of local government from implementing such State’s or unit of local government’s own laws that authorize the use, distribution, sale, possession, research, or cultivation of psilocybin.”
In a social media post Rep. Garcia said: “Proud to introduce the VISIONS Act today, which protects legal psilocybin/mushroom use from federal prosecution anywhere where psilocybin is legal. Psilocybin treatments can offer relief to those suffering from anxiety, depression and PTSD for veterans.”
At a press conference Garcia said that “Current federal law lags behind the growing body of evidence that suggests that the psychedelic treatment that psilocybin offers can provide relief for those suffering from anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders”.
Garcia says that proponents of the bill are “taking the exact same language that was used for cannabis and we’re applying it to psilocybin. This really empowers states and localities … so that they know the federal government is not going to get in the way with criminalization.”
The measure is more relevant than ever, as both Oregon and Colorado have passed laws legalizing psilocybin use. The California Legislature also recently approved a bill to legalize psilocybin as well as other psychedelics like DMT; the measure has been sent to Governor Newsom.
