New York Senators File Bill To Legalize Psilocybin Therapy In 2025

New York senators have prefiled a bill for the 2025 session that would legalize psilocybin therapy for patients with qualifying conditions.

Under the proposal, intoduced by Sen. Nathalia Fernandez (D) and five cosponsors, people could receive psilocybin treatment from a certified facilitator in a clinical setting, or at their home if they’re unable to travel. Patients and facilitators would receive protections against state-level prosecution.

A Psilocybin Assisted Therapy (PAT) grant program would be established to “provide veterans, first responders, retired first responders, and low income individuals with the funding necessary to receive psilocybin and/or MDMA assisted therapy.”

The bill calls for $5 million in funding, “or so much thereof as may be necessary,” to support the grant program.

The state Department of Agriculture and Markets would launch and oversee a pilot program to cultivate psilocybin mushrooms that facilitators could access, with the intent of lowering costs.

Fernandez filed an earlier version of the bill last session, but it did not move out of committee. Only minor technical changes have been made in the latest iteration.

A memo attached to the previous legislation said that psychedelic medicine “gives a promising alternative to a crisis that is only being exacerbated in today’s society.”

“As a State, it is our duty to use every tool at our disposal to alleviate that suffering for New Yorkers,” it said.

New York legislators have been pursuing psychedelics reform in a variety of ways over recent years.

Last year, for example, Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin (D) introduced a separate bill to legalize psilocybin for adults, provided they obtain a permit after undergoing a health screening and educational course.

Bicameral New York lawmakers said at a briefing last year that there was a “real chance” that legislation to legalize psilocybin-assisted therapy would advance through committee, emphasizing that delaying action would “neglect” many “people who need help” with certain mental health conditions. That did not ultimately materialize, however.

“We’re in a mental health crisis, and so we need every tool that’s available to us,” Assemblymember Pat Burke (D), who sponsored another bill to create a psilocybin therapy pilot program for 10,000 people, said. He added that “we’re here to turn the page” on the broader drug war.

In December 2022, Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (D) separately introduced a measure to legalize certain psychedelics such as psilocybin and ibogaine for adults 21 and older.

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Meanwhile, New York officials recently announced that the state’s legal marijuana market has now surpassed the $1 billion sales mark. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) called the milestone “a testament to the hard work of those who helped build the strongest cannabis industry in the nation: one that prioritizes equity, ensures public safety, and empowers communities.”

The figure reflects total sales since the cannabis market’s launch more than two years ago, in late 2022.

After a slow rollout in marked by lawsuits and other delays, legal marijuana sales in New York have picked up significantly in the past several months. Regulators say that’s the result of more licensed businesses opening as well as what they describe as a successful crackdown on unlicensed shops.

Separately, in November, Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D) called for the state to extend financial aid to retail operators operators struggling under high-cost loans from a social equity fund created as a core part of the legalization program.

Later in the month, Hochul signed two new cannabis-related bills into law—one to revive the Cannabis Growers Showcase program, where producers sell products directly to consumers at farmers market-style events, and another clarifying that cannabis is categorized as an agricultural crop in the state.

The governor argued in June, meanwhile, that there’s a direct correlation between stepped-up enforcement and “dramatically” increased legal sales. A report by state officials earlier this year found both “growing pains” and “successful efforts” in New York’s marijuana market launch.

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