A psilocybin research bill cleared a Washington State House committee on Tuesday, passing on a bipartisan 23–8 vote after lawmakers rejected a Republican-led amendment to restore the measure’s original provisions to broadly legalize facilitated use of the drug.
“This is something that is—to me—low-risk, something that we can try now,” said Rep. Travis Couture (R), who introduced the amendment. “I just don’t feel that, the way we’re going, we’re moving fast enough.”
SB 5263 was originally introduced by Sens. Jesse Salomon (D) and Liz Lovelett (D) in January as a proposal to allow adults 21 and older to legally use psilocybin under the care of trained, state-licensed facilitators. Nationally recognized medical institutions, the initial bill said, recognize psilocybin’s potential to help treat a variety of medical conditions, “including but not limited to addiction, depression, anxiety disorders, and end-of-life psychological distress.”
In Senate committees, centrist Democrats subsequently gutted the bill, removing legalization provisions and instead creating a task force and advisory group to study the issue and provide recommendations. It passed the full Senate last month as a research-only bill.
The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved a new version of the bill that largely resembles the Senate-passed version with one
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