Governor says no to 'magic mushrooms' except for research but OKs Molly therapy

Extended funding for psilocybin mushroom research will make Arizona a world leader in the field despite Gov. Katie Hobbs' veto of a bill that aimed to legalize clinical mushroom therapy.

People hoping for a new alternative drug therapy also can take heart in a separate bill Hobbs signed authorizing treatment with MDMA, or ecstasy, for sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder. The treatment won't be available until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves it, but the FDA is set to make a final decision on MDMA treatment in August.

In the meantime, Arizona will move ahead with research on magic mushrooms that appeared to be lost until final budget negotiations Saturday.

State Rep. Kevin Payne, R-Peoria, sponsored a bill last year to give $5 million in state money for research on whole mushroom therapy for PTSD, following up on promising results from studies on synthetic psilocybin, the main psychoactive component in the mushrooms.

Payne and legislative staff members accidentally failed to label the appropriation as "non-lapsing," meaning if it wasn't all used by June 30, 2024, it no longer would be available. The mishap disappointed mushroom advocates, including members of Arizona's new Psilocybin Research Advisory Council, because the research couldn't be done that quickly.

Payne sponsored a new bill to extend the research money indefinitely, and it failed. But he managed to convince his colleagues to make the change in the new state budget that Hobbs signed Tuesday.

"I’m very happy this one went through," Payne said, adding that he hopes military veterans and first responders with PTSD find relief through the therapy.

Dr. Sue Sisley, a Scottsdale researcher who's previously led studies on marijuana and PTSD, will help lead the mushroom research. Sisley is the only person in the country who has U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration approval to work with psilocybin mushrooms, which are illegal in Arizona and considered a Schedule 1 drug, with the highest risk of abuse, under federal law.

"It is good news," Sisley said of the continued research funding. The $5 million immediately catapults Arizona to the forefront of mushroom research around the world, she said.

Both the MDMA and mushroom bills seeking to start clinical therapy received strong bipartisan support in the state House and Senate before reaching Hobbs' desk.

In her veto letter, Hobbs praised the continuation of research funds but wrote that she rejected the mushroom clinic bill "because we do not yet have the evidence needed to support widespread clinical expansion" and Arizonans "should not be the subject of experiments for unproven therapies with a lack of appropriate guardrails."

Hobbs added that the mushroom clinic bill would have cost $400,000 yearly but contained no appropriated funding.

"Big time bummer, but I half expected it," said Senate Pro Tempore Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, the bill's sponsor, said of the veto. "Sadly, Arizonans will now have to continue leaving their own state and country to receive this type of treatment."

Yet Sisley said she agreed with Hobbs' comments because no studies have yet shown that whole mushroom therapy is safe and effective.

"The science doesn't exist yet," she said. Conversely, trials for MDMA, also known colloquially as Molly, show "substantial safety and efficacy" for the treatment of PTSD, she said.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Governor approves 'magic mushroom' research, Molly therapy in Arizona