California Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have decriminalised the possession and personal use of various hallucinogens, including psychedelic mushrooms.
The legislation vetoed on Saturday would have allowed people 21 and older to possess psilocybin, the hallucinogenic component of so-called psychedelic mushrooms. It would also have covered dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and mescaline.
The bill would not have legalised the sale of these substances, nor would it have prohibited their possession on school premises. Instead, it would have ensured that people would not be arrested or prosecuted for possessing limited amounts of plant-based hallucinogens.
Newsom, a Democrat who backed the legalisation of cannabis in 2016, said in a statement on Saturday that more needs to be done before California decriminalises the hallucinogens.
“California should immediately begin work to establish regulated treatment guidelines – complete with dosing information, therapeutic guidelines, rules to prevent exploitation during guided treatments, and medical clearance for no underlying psychoses,” Newsom’s statement said. “Unfortunately, this bill would decriminalise possession before those guidelines are in place, and I cannot sign it.”
The bill, which would have taken effect in 2025, would have required the California Department of Public Health to study the therapeutic use of psychedelic substances and make recommendations to the legislature.
Even if California passed the bill into law, the drugs would still be illegal under federal law.
In recent years, psychedelics have emerged as an alternative approach to treating a variety of mental illnesses, including post-traumatic stress disorder. The Federal Drug Administration designated psilocybin as a “breakthrough therapy” for treatment-resistant depression in 2019, and recently released draft guidelines for the use of psychedelics in clinical trials.
Public opinion on psychedelics, which has largely been associated with the drug culture of the 1960s, has also shifted to support therapeutic use.
Supporters of the legislation include veterans who have spoken of the benefits of using psychedelics to treat trauma and other conditions.
“Psilocybin gave me my life back,” said Joe McKay, a retired New York City firefighter who responded to the 9/11 attacks, at an Assembly hearing in July. “No one should go to jail for using this medicine to try to heal.”
But opponents said the benefits of the drugs were still largely unknown and the bill could lead to more crime – although studies in recent years have shown that decriminalisation does not increase crime rates. Parents’ organisations were also concerned that the legislation would have made the drugs more accessible to children and teenagers.
The California Coalition for Psychedelic Safety and Education, which opposed the measure, said more safeguards were needed before decriminalisation.
“We are grateful that Governor Newsom listened to some of the nation’s top medical experts, psychedelic researchers and psychiatrists, all of whom warned that legalisation without guardrails for both personal and therapeutic use is premature at best,” the coalition said in a statement on Saturday. “Any move towards decriminalisation will require appropriate public education campaigns, safety protocols and emergency response procedures to keep Californians safe.”
State Senator Scott Wiener, who authored the bill, called the veto a missed opportunity for California to follow the science and lead the nation.
“This is a setback for the vast number of Californians – including combat veterans and first responders – who safely use and benefit from these non-addictive substances and who will now continue to be classified as criminals under California law,” Wiener said in a statement Saturday. “The evidence is undeniable that criminalising access to these substances only serves to make people less safe and reduce access to help.”
He said he would introduce new legislation in the future. Wiener unsuccessfully tried to pass a broader bill last year that would have also decriminalised the use and possession of LSD and MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy.
Lawmakers can override a gubernatorial veto with a two-thirds majority, but they have not tried to do so in decades.
In 2020, Oregon voters approved the decriminalisation of small amounts of psychedelics and separately became the first to approve the supervised use of psilocybin in a therapeutic setting. Two years later, Colorado voters also passed a ballot measure to decriminalise psychedelic mushrooms and create state-regulated centres where participants can experience the drug under supervision.
In California, cities including Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Berkeley have decriminalised natural psychedelics derived from plants and fungi.
Despite Newsom’s veto, California voters may have a chance to weigh in on the issue next year. Advocates are trying to get two initiatives to expand the use of psychedelics on the November 2024 ballot. One would legalise the use and sale of mushrooms for people over 21, and the other would ask voters to approve borrowing $5 billion to create a state agency to research psychedelic therapies.
