NJ Senate President Introduces Psilocybin Legalization Bill Containing Home-Cultivation Provision

June 29, 2022 12:11:50

New Jersey’s senate president recently filed a bill that would legalize the home cultivation, possession and gifting of psilocybin or magic mushrooms to adults aged 21 and older. The psychedelic reform bill contains provisions that would grant the psychedelics market more freedoms than the cannabis market.

Last February, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill that reclassified the possession of psilocybin mushrooms from a third-degree crime with a penalty of three to five years in jail and up to $15,000 in fines to a disorderly persons offense with a maximum fine of $1,000, up to six months’ jail time, or both.

The Psilocybin Behavioral Health Access and Services Act seeks to completely decriminalize the possession, home growth and sharing of psilocybin mushrooms. Furthermore, it would allow for the creation of licensed establishments that offer supervised psilocybin services. The bill was introduced by New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari, a long-time proponent of cannabis reform in the state.

The bill’s language notes that a significant portion of New Jersey adults live with behavioral health conditions that could be alleviated by psilocybin. It states that the U.S. Foods and Drug Administration (FDA) deemed psilocybin as a breakthrough therapy and that there is a growing body of research showing its efficacy as an alternative treatment for certain conditions.

The legislation would allow the creation of psilocybin service centers and sanction the possession, storage, processing, transportation, use, ingestion, inhalation and delivery of four or fewer grams of psilocybin. Oregon is the only other state with psilocybin service centers after Oregonians approved a historic initiative that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of nearly all hard drugs.

The Psilocybin Behavioral Health Access and Services Act would make it legal for people aged 21 and older to grow or process fungi or plants that can produce psilocybin for their own personal use as long as the plants are kept in a private residence and away from persons younger than 21. This home-growing provision would give the psychedelics industry significantly more freedom compared to the cannabis industry in New Jersey. As it stands, state law does not allow people to grow their own cannabis, not even medical marijuana patients with qualifying diseases.

The legislation will provide protections for anyone indulging in the aforementioned activities, stating that any conduct that involves small amounts of psilocybin will not be considered an offense as long as the person in question is at least 21 years old. It would also allow people with psilocybin-related convictions that would now be considered legal to file for resentencing or expungements.

These attempts to reform psychedelic policies in different states are coming at a time when major companies such as Cybin Inc. (NYSE American: CYBN) (NEO: CYBN) have made significant strides in their push to develop treatments from different psychedelic compounds.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Cybin Inc. (NEO: CYBN) (NYSE American: CYBN) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CYBN

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