Just last year Maryland legalized recreational marijuana for sale and consumption. Now, lawmakers are opening a possible pathway for psychedelic substances to be less scrutinized by the law.
The House of Delegates passed a bill 136-1 this week to establish a task force that would look into the possibility of decriminalizing psychedelic substances and make recommendations about how the law should handle them.
The report would be due by July 2025.
“This is actually an area that's been studied far more than cannabis, whether for behavioral health issues related to post traumatic stress disorder, addiction broader behavioral health, depression issues, addiction, chronic pain, just another tool in the toolbox when you're dealing with a treatments,” said Sen Brian Feldman (D-Montgomery County), a sponsor for the bill.
Psychedelics have made a resurgence in medicine in recent years. Johns Hopkins Medicine has a research center focusing on how the substances can help with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder and other issues.
Two states plus D.C. have already decriminalized psychedelics and eight other states have similar task forces.
“There are 54 clinical trials currently going on in Maryland and again, with a safety profile, almost unheard of showing including no overdose, no withdrawal, no hangover and no addiction,” Andrew Coop, a professor of pharmaceutical studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, told the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday.
“There are clinical trials funded by the National Institutes of Health. The Food and Drug Administration has designated psilocybin a breakthrough therapy. The Department of Defense is funding psychedelic research for veterans. This shows the support of the federal government and the safety profile.”
Maryland lawmakers would still need to pass separate legislation to decriminalize the substances.