Would 'magic mushrooms' become recreational if approved as medicinal?
A bipartisan bill that cleared a Senate committee Tuesday would spawn a medical psilocybin mushroom industry in Arizona that could grow into a larger market in the future.
Taking cues from Oregon, the first state to legalize the therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms, the bill would create a new industry of service centers that could legally grow, distribute and facilitate their use. Like ketamine and MDMA, psilocybin is being increasingly used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, depression and other mental health conditions.
The mushroom bill's main sponsor, Republican Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope of Coolidge, said he sees the potential program as well within the conservative wheelhouse.
"We're talking about the freedom to choose your health care plan with something that has been, I think, proven to be of help to some people," Shope said. "At the end of the day, I think that's the basis of conservatism - the choice to be able to do something like that."
Shope told The Arizona Republic he crafted the bill after talking to lobbyists from the Psychedelic Association of Arizona, including mental health lawyer Josh Mozell. He said he was also impressed by a news report about claims made by Bob Parsons, the billionaire founder of domain-name giant GoDaddy.com, on the health benefits of psychedelic experiences.
Parsons, who lives in Scottsdale, spoke in favor of the bill and his success in treating his PTSD with psychedelic drugs at Tuesday's hearing. A veteran of the Marine Corps, Parsons told the panel he left the Vietnam War with mental scars that disrupted his family life and led to two divorces. Curious about psychedelics after other treatments failed, in 2018 he spent three days in Hawaii for guided trips on LSD, psilocybin mushrooms and ayahuasca. He's since donated millions of dollars to psychedelic research.
"The change is remarkable and the downsides, none," Parsons said, adding that it would be a "renaissance" if Arizona passed the bill.
Shope's bill has only a few outspoken critics.
Deborah Geesling, a member of Arizona Mad Moms, a group that lobbies for help for people with serious mental illness, registered in opposition of the bill. She worries that use of psilocybin mushrooms on people with or predisposed to mental illness could make their conditions worse.
"There hasn't been enough research," she said. "Who stands to benefit from this?"
Committee members voted 7-0 to advance the bill for a vote by the full Senate. If successful there, it will then move to the House. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs hasn't yet taken a position on it, spokesperson Christian Slater said.
The trajectory of magic mushrooms as a commercial enterprise appears similar to that of recreational cannabis, which is now legal in about half the states. It all began with proponents touting the benefits of medical marijuana.
Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association, said the Shope bill seems like a first step in creating a larger industry for the future. He and his organization, which represents a wide range of health care professionals, support the bill because of studies showing its usefulness in easing the anxiety of terminal illnesses.
"I think it's building a path to making this part of the fabric of Arizona," Humble said. He added that once Arizonans get comfortable with the idea of clinical use, another law could decriminalize the mushrooms.
Mushrooms growing as a therapy option
Users of psilocybin mushrooms, also known as "magic mushrooms," often report poignant insights and revelatory thoughts about themselves while under the influence. Researchers have found for decades that mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs can be useful in treating alcoholism, depression and other health conditions. Recent studies have shown a single mushroom trip could produce months of significant mental benefits for depression patients and several years of relief for people in distress from life-threatening cancers.
Tribal societies around the world have used psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs for thousands of years for medicine, or in religious ceremonies. The modern psychedelic mushroom businesses sometimes incorporate shamanism or indigenous spiritual beliefs in facilitator training and patient sessions. Scientific studies of psychedelic experiences rely on answers patients give on a Mystical Experience Questionnaire, which asks whether the participant "experienced eternity or infinity."
In 2020, Oregon and Colorado voters approved the mushrooms for clinical use. Several cities, including Detroit and Seattle, have decriminalized them. California Gov. Gavin Newsome vetoed a decriminalization bill in October, but the state is considering legalizing the therapy. While Colorado's program isn't yet operational, Oregon now has an array of businesses similar to those Arizona is considering in which people schedule mushroom experiences in a clinical setting that can cost $1,000 for a single trip.
Shope and Mozell told The Republic that like it or not, new psilocybin mushroom policy is on its on its way to Arizona. The clinical use bill will help Arizona keep control of the industry, which could get out of hand if out-of-state operators launch a ballot measure. Arizona law makes changing successful ballot measures difficult, requiring a three-quarters supermajority of legislators. Even then, the change must "further the purpose" of the measure.
Arizona's in the "infancy" stage of the psilocybin market, Shope said. He wants to take advantage of opportunities that were missed when advocates of medical marijuana put up a ballot measure in 2010 that voters approved.
"I'd like to think we all have the best intentions here of trying to lay this out as properly as possible," he said. "It gives us an opportunity a year from now if something's not working to go ahead and fix it."
Gary Smith, president and co-founder of the Arizona Cannabis Bar Association, has been studying the mushroom market. He is convinced an initiative that would decriminalize mushrooms or legalize their clinical use is inevitable. While he backs Shope's bill, he also said it will "create a black market" because of the high cost of the treatment.
"You can grow these under your bed in a shoebox for pennies," he said. "Once the public finds that out, it's game over."
The psilocybin mushroom industry would likely never be as large as the billion-dollar cannabis market.
A 2022 study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed that 44% of Americans aged 19 to 35 used cannabis products in the prior year, while 8 percent used psychedelic drugs of all kinds, including psilocybin mushrooms, LSD and MDMA.
How the bill would work
Under the plan, the state would begin accepting applications in January 2026 for would-be operators of "psychedelic-assisted therapy centers as a health care institution." Entities that apply would require at least 51% ownership by someone who's lived in the state for at least four years. Each facility would employ a medical director who's gone through at least 132 hours of specialized training.
The bill would establish a new, 12-member Psilocybin Advisory Board within the state Department of Health Services that would oversee clinic operations. The state health agency would be tasked with developing rules for the program.
Anyone 21 or older could sign up for a session. Only whole mushrooms could be used, not synthetic psilocybin. Patients wouldn't need to suffer from any particular condition to sign up for a session. Clinics couldn't be located near a K-12 school in most cases. Patients would have to consume their entire allotment of mushrooms at the clinic during a supervised session and would not be allowed to take any home.
Obtaining or growing mushrooms must not violate the federal Controlled Substances Act, according to the law. For now, that means the source likely would be Sue Sisley of the Scottsdale Research Institute, who holds a federal license to cultivate them for research. A company could operate a clinic as part of a research program, the law states.
"The bill creates a federally legal system for accessing federally legal psilocybin mushrooms," Sisley said.
Illicit use of mushrooms rising
Positive media coverage of psilocybin mushrooms and wider acceptance of their medical benefit have likely increased their illicit use, according to recent studies.
Joseph Palamar, an assistant professor who researches public health at New York University Langone Health, published an article in the medical journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence earlier this month showing that psilocybin mushroom seizures nearly tripled from 2017 to 2022.
"I suspect that many seizures that have taken place in states or cities with more liberal psychedelic laws have been related to people unlawfully selling shrooms," Palamar told The Republic. "More liberal laws are often associated with law enforcement simply looking the other way."
Arizona DEA spokeswoman Jodie Underwood confirmed that Arizona is among the states seeing more seizures.
"Historically, DEA Arizona investigations have not routinely encountered psilocybin, yet over the last couple of years we have seen an increase," she said in a written statement. "These incidents involved the seizure of other illicit drugs such as fentanyl, methamphetamine, marijuana etc."
Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Push for medical use of 'magic mushrooms' mirrors AZ's weed legalization
