Connecticut Committee Takes Up Bill To Decriminalize Psilocybin

Connecticut lawmakers have taken up a bill to decriminalize psilocybin for adults—even though the state’s Democratic governor signaled he wouldn’t support an earlier version of the reform proposal.

The legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee on Friday discussed the proposal, which was reintroduced by the panel last week. It would make possession of up to one-half an ounce of psilocybin punishable by a $150 fine, without the threat of jail time.

At the hearing, members asked a series of questions about the potential impact of the legislation, inquiring about the potential utilization of trained facilitators for people using psilocybin, the safety profile of the psychedelic and the current policy landscape, for example.

Rep. David Rutigliano (R) asked one witness, a registered nurse with experience facilitating psilocybin therapy, if people would “only use this substance under a control setting—or if you decriminalize it or legalize it, as is your ultimate goal, can they use it at any time?”

“People are utilizing it in both uncontrolled and controlled settings,” Chandra Campanelli replied. “Obviously, folks have been using it recreationally for a very long time. Still, even with that [psilocybin carries] very, very low harm.”

What you can expect with decriminalization, is “what exists now, which is people using it individually, as well as in a controlled setting,” she said.

About a dozen people with different perspectives on the psilocybin bill also submitted written testimony ahead of the committee hearing.

Jess Zaccagnino, policy counsel of ACLU Connecticut, backed the reform and said the organization “opposes criminal prohibition of drugs, including psilocybin.”

“Not only is prohibition a proven failure as a drug control strategy, but it subjects otherwise law-abiding citizens to arrest, prosecution, and incarceration for what they do in private,” Zaccagnino said. “There are better ways to control drug use, like harm reduction, that will ultimately lead to a healthier and freer society.”

Curiously, a self-described cannabis advocate said his group, CT CannaWarriors, opposes the psilocybin policy change, arguing that Connecticut—which has legalized adult-use marijuana—should be focusing on preventing the “continued arrest of cannabis users using vague and unfair codifications” before considering psychedelics reform.

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 current 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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Photo courtesy of Wikimedia/Workman.