As the federal Food and Drug Administration considers whether to approve the use of psychedelics in mental health treatment, a group of Alaska legislators is asking the state to prepare for what happens if the federal government begins allowing the wider use of MDMA, psilocybin mushrooms and similar medicines.
Senate Bill 166, heard Monday in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, and House Bill 228, which will be heard in the House Military and Veterans Committee next week, would create a state task force charged with writing rules for Alaska’s use of psychedelics.
“This bill does not legalize anything. Rather, it creates a problem-solving task force in anticipation of federal legalization,” said Sen. Forrest Dunbar, D-Anchorage and the prime sponsor of SB 166.
Psychedelics, with few exceptions, are among the drugs most highly restricted by the Drug Enforcement Agency, which says they have “no currently accepted medical use” and a high potential for abuse. If the FDA accepts their medical use, DEA restrictions will automatically be relaxed, forcing the state to consider how they can be used here.
Rep. Jennie Armstrong, D-Anchorage, is the prime sponsor of HB 228 and said psychedelic medicines are targeted at a lot of common problems in Alaska.
“We have a state that has some of the highest rates of mental health struggles, highest rates of suicide, highest rates of domestic violence and sexual assault and the highest share of veterans per capita,” she said.
“And I would argue that Alaska has the chance, Alaska has the potential, to see the greatest positive impact from the introduction of medicalized psychedelics.”
The text of the bill calls for the task force to deliver recommendations to the governor and Legislature by the end of 2024.
Armstrong and Dunbar each said that if the FDA approves psychedelic treatments, it likely won’t involve people taking “magic mushrooms” home and eating them like they would take a pill. Instead, psychedelics would probably be administered in a clinic, overseen by a specially trained therapist, as part of a long-term course of therapy.
Anchorage psychologist Tami Lubitsh-White was among those who testified in support of SB 166 during Monday’s hearing.
“My hope is that we will not stay the last frontier in terms of exploring psychedelic treatment,” she said.
Beth Law of Wasilla also testified. A military veteran, she said she undertook psychedelic therapy outside the United States and found it helpful as she sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Numerous scientific studies have indicated that psychedelics can be helpful in treating PTSD, which has caused the federal government to consider labeling them as medicinally helpful.
Armstrong said that FDA approval of psychedelic treatment could come as soon as this year, which is why Alaska needs to set up a task force like ones that have already been implemented in states like Hawaii.
Without advance work by the task force, Armstrong said, regulations for any new therapy would come at the will of the state’s existing agencies. Given staffing issues at those agencies, Armstrong said, it makes sense to take other action.
“From Day One, we should be ready to go,” she said.
Rep. Stanley Wright, R-Anchorage and chair of the House Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, said that group is ready to hear more about the idea.
“We’re going to get it heard,” he said.
