Psychedelics are having a renaissance. Research is revealing the potential benefits of these compounds, and more states are considering psychedelic law reform. Oregon and Colorado made history when they became the first states to legalize the therapeutic use of these compounds. Now, a third state has officially signed off on legal psilocybin: New Mexico.
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Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed SB219 into law this week. The measure, known as the Medical Psilocybin Act, legalizes the use of psilocybin (aka magic mushrooms) to help treat people with mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.
Psilocybin will be administered at state-regulated facilities, much like in Colorado and Oregon. Treatment centers are expected to open in 2028.
“We have New Mexicans who are suffering with various conditions that are really kind of end runs in some cases, major drug-resistant depression where the pharmaceutical world isn’t giving them any relief or they have major major side effects, they need another option,” Democratic State Senator Jeff Steinborn said during a prior committee hearing.
New Mexico legislators proposed the bill after a 2023 task force submitted a feasibility study on the subject. After reviewing available research and hearing from dozens of constituents who had benefited from psilocybin therapy, a bipartisan group of lawmakers forged ahead.
“If they (patients) hadn’t had this, they would have committed suicide,” said Democratic State Representative Elizabeth Thomas during an early committee hearing. “So that was pretty strong for me.”
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Gov. Lujan Grisham approved the Medical Psilocybin Act alongside roughly 60 other bills. The New Mexico legislative session is set to expire this week, so advocates of psychedelic medicine are likely thrilled that the bill made it across the finish line.
Psilocybin has shown great promise for a number of health conditions, and the passing of regulated treatment in New Mexico is another brick on the path to societal acceptance. While the compound remains a Schedule I substance on the federal level, the move may be another bit of evidence in favor of reform.
