Des Moines, Iowa — The Iowa House has passed a bill to legalize the use of psilocybin — sometimes called magic mushrooms — as medical treatment for certain conditions, like post-traumatic stress disorder.
Treatments would have to be monitored in a clinical setting by a provider who holds a state license to administer the drug. Like the state’s medical marijuana program, the state would license facilities to grow psychedelic mushrooms and package psilocybin. Republican Representative John Wills of Spirit Lake says studies have shown it’s an effective treatment for PTSD, but it will take the Veterans Administration years to set up a program.
Fifteen years ago, Wills served a year-long deployment to Afghanistan. He says some of the veterans he served with still struggle with PTSD — and have to spend thousands of dollars traveling out of state to get a psilocybin treatment.
The bill passed on an 84-to-six vote. Representative Jeff Shipley, a Republican from Fairfield, started sponsoring bills to legalize magic mushrooms seven years ago during his first term in the Iowa House.
The bill sets up a seven-member state board that would come up with the list of medical conditions for which psilocybin could be used as treatment, things like addiction, depression and anxiety. Shipley says psilocybin has shown tremendous promise as a breakthrough therapy that requires just one treatment.
Representative Larry McBurney of Urbandale, a veteran of the Iowa National Guard, was diagnosed with PTSD after three deployments.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where it must first clear a committee before it can be debated by the full Senate.
