A bill introduced to Texas lawmakers in February could enable the state to study the therapeutic purposes of psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine for some mental health conditions.
Psychedelic Drug Enthusiasts and Legal Research
Representative Alex Dominguez proposed HB-1802 which states that scientists researching these drugs will, “evaluate and determine whether alternative therapies are effective in treating mental health and other medical conditions.” Those mental health conditions could be any of the following: chronic pain, migraines, depression, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and anxiety. The bill goes on to state how the Department of State Health Services would conduct a study with the help of the Texas Medical Board to gather more research together, completing it by December 1, 2022.
This bill does not come as a surprise as many other states have put forth psychedelic and drug research policy to be voted on in the 2021 session. These states are California, Florida, Hawaii, New York, Washington State, Iowa, Virginia, and Connecticut, with Texas now joining the ranks. These bills are minor mirrors of what Oregon did this year, completely decriminalizing drugs. Oregon has had not only psilocybin decriminalized, but researched as well, and hopefully these other states will find what they did in Oregon; these drugs are not harmful to society.
While pot becomes more bipartisan, some are still fueled by the War on Drugs. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who also heads the state Senate in Texas is not an advocate for marijauana, but he did say he was willing to listen to further medical marijuana reform. Gracious as that may be, he went on to say, “we’re always listening on the health issues, but we’re not going to turn this into California, where anybody can get a slip from the doctor and go down to some retail store and get marijuana.”
As this legislation might not pass in Texas, it is clear that at least some marijuana headway is being made. House Speaker Dade Phelan was quoted as saying that they, “will look at reform measures again and review those again, and some will get traction, some will not.”
This comes after more than a dozen articles of marijuana legislation were prefiled for 2021 in Texas. Some of those include decriminalizing minor mairjuana possessions, legalizing high-THC cannabis for medical use, and even legalizing recreational marijuana.
Additional Resources:
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