Alaska Activists Submit First Signatures To Put Psychedelics Legalization Measure On 2026 Ballot

Proponents of a plan in Alaska to legalize certain psychedelics—including
psilocybin, mescaline and DMT—have submitted an initial round of voter
signatures as part of the campaign’s effort to put the proposed measure on
2026 state ballot.

Last month the group Natural Medicine Alaska, which is behind the would-be
ballot initiative, announced on social media that organizers had submitted
230 voter signatures to state officials for validation.

“A heartfelt thank you to all our incredible volunteers across Anchorage,
the Valley, and Talkeetna!” it said. “We couldn’t have done it without you!”

Provided that at least 100 of the filed signatures are deemed valid, state
Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (R) would then have 60 days to decide whether to
certify the proposal for further signature gathering in order to qualify
for the state ballot.

A policy outline explains the proposal as “building off of” Colorado’s
voter-approved 2022 Natural Medicine Health Act, under which facilitators
recently administered the state’s first legal dose of psilocybin.

In addition to establishing a licensed psychedelics industry in the state,
the Alaska measure would legalize non-commercial use, cultivation and
sharing of DMT, non-peyote mescaline, psilocybin and psilocin among adults
21 and older under a so-called “grow, gather, gift” model popular among
psychedelic reform proponents.

The measure “shifts away from a restrictive healing center model, allowing
individual practitioners to provide [natural medicine] in their offices and
at-home facilitation, increasing accessibility in rural communities” common
in Alaska, the organizers’ policy outline says.

Cultivation would need to take place in a space no larger that 12 feet by
12 feet and remain out of public view, and growers would be required to
take reasonable steps to prevent access by minors

Transfers of psychedelics between adults, meanwhile, would need to occur
without any form of payment.

Public consumption of the substances would be forbidden, subject to a civil
fine of up to $100.

On the commercial side, Alaska would license healing centers—where
certified facilitators would supervise psychedelic administration—as well
as testing labs, cultivation facilities, product manufacturers, handlers
and other related businesses.

The application round for licenses would need to begin no later than July
1, 2028.

Facilities would need to be majority Alaska-owned, with at least half of
ownership held by residents of the state.

Traditional healers would also be protected under the proposed initiative
for “ceremonial, spiritual, or cultural use of plant medicines” through
legal exemptions to state drug laws. They would not need to hold a state
license, the proposal says, “but must be certified or credentialed as a
traditional practitioner.”

The system would be overseen by a Natural Medicine Control Board a
“regulatory and quasi-judicial agency” that would be housed within the
Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. It would
include members from the public safety and public health sectors, as well
as someone from a rural area, a representative of the natural medicine
industry, an Alaska Native traditional healer, a professional practitioner
of psychedelic-assisted therapy and someone either from the general public
or the natural medicine industry.

A separate Natural Medicine Advisory Committee consisting of 15 members
would make recommendations around the program. That body would include
mental heath professionals, natural medicine therapists or researchers,
tribal representatives, a physician, a military veteran, a first responder,
healthcare experts and others.

As for traditional use, the measure would also create a Traditional Use
Council to develop best practices and educational materials around
Indigenous-based psychedelic use and harm reduction principles. That would
include a separate credentialing or certification process that “may include
consideration of lineage, apprenticeship, community recognition, and
cultural practice, rather than formal clinical or academic training.”

In a social media post, Natural Medicine Alaska said it’s currently
launching “a full statewide campaign to educate voters, build coalitions,
and secure the support needed to pass this measure.”

It’s seeking $49 donations from supporters—intended to recognize Alaska as
the 49th U.S. state—to help fund the effort.

“Alaska has always been the Last Frontier. With your support, we can make
it the Next Frontier for healing-centered psychedelic policy reform,” the
post says.

In a campaign video from February, the campaign said it sees “a future
where natural medicines are available as an option to all who are seeking
out healing and well-being, a future where education on these medicines
empowers the Alaskan community with legalized personal use of psilocybin
and other natural psychedelics.”

A poll last year found that nearly half (49.4 percent) of Alaska adults
would support a ballot measure to more broadly remove criminal penalties
for using substances such as psilocybin mushrooms.

That support rose markedly—to nearly two thirds (65 percent)—when
participants were told that Alaska has high rates of mental illnesses that
could potentially be treated with psychedelics.

Last year, Alaska lawmakers passed legislation to create a state task force
to study how to license and regulate psychedelic-assisted therapy. The
measure took effect without the signature of Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R).

So far two other states have facilitated psychedelics programs that are
fully operational. Oregon voters legalized therapeutic psilocybin in 2020,
and Colorado’s program was passed at the ballot box in 2022, with the
state’s governor signing legislation a year later to create the regulatory
framework for the program.

In Oregon, more people could eventually access legal psilocybin following a
recent federal court ruling in favor of plaintiffs who argued that the
state’s first-in-the nation psilocybin law wrongfully prevents homebound
patients from seeking care.

Four care providers—three licensed psilocybin facilitators and a physician
specializing in advanced and terminal illnesses—sued the state about year
ago, alleging that the state Psilocybin Services Act (PSA) discriminates
against disabled individuals who can’t travel to designated service centers
where the substance is administered.

In Maine, meanwhile, lawmakers earlier this month reversed course and
rejected a bill to legalize possession of up to one ounce of psilocybin by
people 21 and older.

At the federal level, attorneys for a doctor seeking to reschedule
psilocybin so he can administer it to terminally ill patients recently demanded
an update from the Drug Enforcement Administration, which previously agreed
to submit a request for a scientific review of the psychedelic from the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Separately in Alaska, a federal judge ruled late last month that state
officials did not violate the constitution when restricting intoxicating
hemp products in 2023.

*Read the full language of the ballot initiative proposal below:*

*Photo courtesy of Wikimedia/Mädi.*

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Legalization Measure On 2026 Ballot appeared first on Marijuana Moment.