A Virginia Senate bill to establish a statewide psilocybin advisory board and move the psychedelic to a lower schedule under state statute is headed to the floor following its approval in committee.
The Senate Education and Health Committee passed the legislation from Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D) in a 14-1 vote on Thursday—about a week after it advanced out of a subcommittee.
The measure now heads to the full Senate for consideration, but time is running thin in the short session, with a crossover deadline on Tuesday for bills to clear their originating chamber.
Advocates are encouraged to see psychedelics reform move in the legislature, especially after a separate Virginia House of Delegates panel recently rejected a measure to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic use for people with serious conditions who obtain a doctor’s recommendation.
Hashmi’s legislation is more narrowly tailored than a proposal she filed last session to decriminalize psilocybin altogether. Instead, it would reclassify psilocybin from Schedule I to Schedule III under state law and establish a Virginia Psilocybin Advisory Board.
The board that’s being proposed would be required to “develop a long-term strategic plan for establishing therapeutic access to psilocybin services and monitor and study federal laws, regulations, and policies regarding
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