A Minnesota task force created to advise state lawmakers on policy issues surrounding psychedelic medicine released a report this week recommending the decriminalization of psilocybin-containing mushrooms.
Along with decriminalizing the possession and personal use of what are known as “magic” mushrooms, the task force also recommends creation of a state-regulated clinical program for mushrooms to treat mental health disorders and funding for more research into the health benefits of psilocybin, MDMA (also known as Ecstasy) and LSD.
The 23-member Psychedelic Medicine Task Force released the 191-page report on New Year’s Day, with a two-thirds majority approving the three recommendations. Members included legislators, state agency heads, representatives of the Dakota and Ojibwe tribes, veterans with treatment-resistant mental health conditions, and health care professionals with expertise in psychology, substance abuse and integrative medicine.
Some takeaways from the report:
Greater access to mushrooms, but not LSD and MDMA
While mushrooms were recommended for decriminalization and clinical trials, the task force did not recommend the same for MDMA and LSD. The reason comes down to the fact that mushrooms are a naturally derived medicine while the other two substances are synthetic, said Jessica Nielson, a University of Minnesota psychiatry professor who chaired the task force.
“The overall sense was that something you can grow would be inherently safer and easier to work with than something that needs to be synthesized in a lab,” Nielson said in a statement to the Star Tribune.
That way of thinking is reflected in the “decriminalize nature” movement, which pushes for more access to plant- and fungi-derived psychedelics that have been safely used by indigenous cultures for thousands of years across the globe, Neilson said.
Additionally, sourcing MDMA and LSD would be far too complicated and potentially invite more conflicts with the federal government, Nielson said.