The Democratic governor of Arizona has vetoed a bill to legalize psilocybin service centers where people could receive the psychedelic in a medically supervised setting.
Less than a week after lawmakers gave final approval to the legislation, Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) rejected it on Tuesday, arguing that while the psychedelic may hold therapeutic potential, “we do not yet have the evidence needed to support widespread clinical expansion.”
“Arizonans with depression and PTSD deserve access to treatments that may be seen as outside the mainstream, but they should not be the subject of experiments for unproven therapies with a lack of appropriate guardrails,” the governor said in a veto message.
She also said that the bill’s estimated cost is $400,000 per year, which wasn’t accounted for in the budget.
Under the now-vetoed legislation, the Department of Human Services (DHS) would have been authorized to license psilocybin-assisted therapy centers in the state, where trained facilitators could have administered the psychedelic.
The measure would have significantly expanded on Arizona’s existing research-focused psychedelics law that provides $5 million in annual funding to support studies into psilocybin therapy.
Hobbs cited that research funding in her statement, saying the goal is to “ensure that those who seek psilocybin treatment are doing so confidently and safely under proper supervision of qualified professionals with documented and verified research to support the treatment.”
She said that money “will be allowed to continue with this year’s budget,” with a separate funding bill she signed into law on Tuesday protecting those dollars, which are exempt from lapsing appropriations provisions.
The vetoed proposal, meanwhile, would have established an Arizona Psilocybin Advisory Board, comprised of members appointed by the governor and legislative leaders. Representatives of the attorney general’s office and DHS, as well as military veterans, first responders, scientists with experience with psilocybin and physicians would have been among the members.
The board would have been responsible for establishing training criteria for psilocybin service center staff, making recommendations on the implementation of the law, and studying the science and policy developments related to psychedelics.
Sen. T. J. Shope (R), the bill’s sponsor, told The Center Square that the veto is a “disappointing result after months of hard work and the overwhelming bipartisan support this received in both houses of the Legislature this year.”
The senator added that if lawmakers were still in session, he’d be pushing for a vote to override the veto, but he’ll have to “settle for trying again next year.”
Keep reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.