Connecticut Lawmakers File Bill To Decriminalize Psilocybin Despite Governor’s ‘Concerns’

Connecticut lawmakers have reintroduced a bill to decriminalize psilocybin for adults—despite the fact that the state’s Democratic governor signaled he wasn’t on board with an earlier version of the reform proposal.

The legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee filed the legislation on Monday. It would make possession of up to one-half an ounce of psilocybin punishable by a $150 fine, without the threat of jail time.

This marks the third session in a row that Connecticut legislators have worked to advance psilocybin decriminalization. In 2023, the reform measure cleared the House but did not move through the Senate. The Judiciary Committee also approved a version last year.

Under the proposal, a second or subsequent possession violation would carry a fine of at least $200 but not more than $500. A person who pleads guilty or no contest on two separate occasions would be referred to a substance misuse treatment program.

Police would be require to seize and destroy any amount of the psychedelic they find under the measure, HB 7065. Possession of more than a half-ounce of psilocybin would be considered a Class A misdemeanor.

When the proposal came up last year—which involved an informational forum with lawmakers and activists to discuss the therapeutic potential of substances such as psilocybin and potential pathways to allow for regulated access—the office of Gov. Ned Lamont (D) indicated that it may face a barrier to enactment.

“The governor has concerns about broad decriminalization of mushrooms,” a spokesperson said at the time, noting that at the time it was “a bit too early to speculate” because the bill had not yet been filed yet at that point.

As the 2023 version to decriminalize possession of psilocybin advanced, Lamont also reportedly threatened to veto it, despite having championed and signed into law legislation to legalize cannabis in 2021.

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Lamont signed a large-scale budget bill in 2022 that includes provisions to set the state up to provide certain patients with access to psychedelic-assisted treatment using substances like MDMA and psilocybin.

Prior to that, he also signed separate legislation in 2021 that required the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to create a task force to study the therapeutic potential of psilocybin mushrooms.

Separately, a Connecticut lawmaker also introduced different legislation in 2023 that would have appropriated an unspecified amount of state funds to the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services for the current fiscal year to establish a “psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot program.”

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Image courtesy of Kristie Gianopulos.