The New Jersey Assembly Health Committee passed an amended medical magic mushrooms or psilocybin pilot program legalization bill.

Unfortunately, the medical psilocybin substitute bill establishes a limited framework that doesn’t legalize or decriminalize underground shrooms.

Testimony for Legal Medical Psilocybin Progress

Neal Usitan said he edited the show “How to Change Your Mind” and saw the benefit of psychedelic therapy. So, he launched NJ for Fungi and Plant Medicine with doctors, therapists, lawyers, social workers, and potential patients.

“The clinical evidence from FDA trials is clear that psilocybin is not only safe and non-habit forming. It treats depression, anxiety, OCD, and addiction … more effective than current therapies,” Usitan declared.

He noted the Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Bobby Kennedy Jr. wants the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to reschedule psilocybin.

Medical Shroom Market Bill Keeps Underground Shrooms Underground

He was not happy that the bill keeps underground shrooms possession criminal versus synthetic psilocybin.

“Natural psilocybin mushrooms are safe too,” Usitan argued.

“Allow access to natural psilocybin for mental health and chronic pain, such as cluster headache,” he argued.

Usitan called for them to help end “the criminalization of this powerful and necessary medicine.”

“Just for clarification, this bill doesn’t address the criminalization of it. It addresses it as medicine and medicinal use by a physician. We’re not decriminalizing it at all,” Assembly Health Committee Chair Carol Murphy (D-7 Burlington) stated.

“When a person undergoes this treatment, how long from the treatment are people ale to go home?…” she asked.

“This would be a lengthy inpatient procedure. The person would not arrive there on their own and would not leave on their own either,” Usitan said.

“It does explicitly continue the criminalization of natural psilocybin, and that’s my point…. They’re very safe,” he argued about the bill.

“That is something to continue the conversation,” Murphy said.

NJ Medical Magic Mushrooms Questions

“Is there a limited amount of treatment a person can get?” Committee Vice Chair Shanique Speight (D-29-Essex) asked.

“There is no known limit,” Usatin said. “You don’t want to be doing this every day…This is not a magic pill… Someone may need continued treatments.”

“From a medical perspective, psilocybin is incredibly safe. It does not cause any accumulation in the boy. It does not cause any damage,” Dr. Jason Konner at Sloan Kettering Medical Center said.

He said one can survive a massive dose.

“You want to give time to process and what you have gained from the experience,” Konner added.

Speight was curious about dosage.

Konner said clinical trials of synthetic psilocybin often use 2-3 grams worth of dried shrooms for a patient’s dosage for a session.

“Natural psilocybin is found in nature and does not have a company behind it that is um trying to sell it and actually create the formulation in clinical trials. Natural psilocybin is not studied nearly as much as synthetic psilocybin…,” Usitan noted.

He said there is a huge underground shrooms market and very few emergency room cases. Usitan added that chronic pain patients have not had much success with synthetic psilocybin versus natural shrooms.

Ongoing Synthetic Psilocybin Clinical Trials

Konner explained that there have been Phase 3 trials of Comps 360 synthetic psilocybin for treating depression is making good progress.

“They’re hoping for FDA approval of that by the end of 2026,” he added.

Reason for Hope State Policy and Advocacy Director Jesse MacLachlan explained that they want to prevent veteran suicide with medical psilocybin.

He noted that current methods don’t work, and many veterans commit suicide every day.

“FDA approval for psilocybin is widely expected in the next few years,” MacLachlan argued.

Jesse Swanson testified that he was a Navy SEAL who had to go to Mexico to treat his trauma with shrooms.

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” bill sponsor Assemblyman Anthony Verrelli (D-15-Mercer) said. “It helps a variety of groups here. It’s not recreational stuff we’re talking about here.”

“We’re all broken in one way, shape, or another. And when legislation comes before… we have a duty to look out for what’s best for the people involved,” he added.

The bill passed 7-1-2 with Assemblyman Brian Rumpf (R-9-Ocean) voting no.

Murphy noted the bill has to go before the Assembly Appropriations Committee next.

NJ Medical Magic Mushrooms Details

The Psilocybin Behavioral Health Access and Services Act says a pilot program would be overseen by a Psychedelic Therapy and Research Advisory Board under the Department of Health (DOH) to provide some legal psilocybin mental health treatment.

In six months, they need to issue a Request For Proposals (RFP) so hospitals may submit applications for the pilot program. The Board then needs to develop criteria to grade and pick hospitals 60 days after the release of the RFP max.

They must select one qualified hospital each from North, Central and South Jersey for the pilot program. Hospitals have to collect and report data and information related to the pilot program and patient outcomes.

Following the completion of year two of the pilot program, the Board must submit reports to the Governor and Legislature.

The Board must make recommendations to the Legislature considering effectiveness, safety, and affordability for the development of a comprehensive therapeutic psilocybin plan.

The bill says the DOH can’t establish guidelines that conflict with the FDA related to clinical trials for psychedelic substances.

Medical Shrooms Legislative Process

The NJ Senate Budget Committee passed the medical psilocybin bill last October 2024.

The primary Assembly sponsors are Assemblymembers Verrelli and Clinton Calabrese (D-36-Bergen). In addition, it’s co-sponsored by Assemblymembers Speight, Shama Haider (D-37-Bergen), and Kevin P. Egan (D-17-Middlesex).

The primary sponsors in the NJ Senate for the necessary companion bill S 2283 are NJ Senate President Nick Scutari (D-22-Union) and Health Committee Chair Joe Vitale (D-19-Middlesex). Their co-sponsors are Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz (D-29-Essex), Republican Conference Leader Holly Schepisi (R-39-Bergen), along with State Senators Raj Mukherji (D-32-Hudson), Declan O’Scanlon (R-13-Monmouth), Andrew Zwicker (D-16-Somerset), and Renee Burgess (D-28-Essex).

Scutari has been working on this for some time. He introduced medical shrooms legalization bills in past legislative sessions.

New legislative sessions begin after elections, which are held every two years for the Assembly. Sometimes it takes a few sessions for a bill to become law. Especially one involving plant medicine.

Oregon and Colorado have passed medical psilocybin legalization bills in recent years. Their efforts are ongoing.