Hawaii Senators Approve Bill To Create Psychedelics Task Force To Study Pathways For Access To Psilocybin, MDMA And More

Hawaii senators have advanced a bill to create a psychedelics task force
responsible for studying and making policy recommendations on providing
access to breakthrough therapies such as psilocybin and MDMA.

Members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee approved the
legislation from Sen. Chris Lee (D), with amendments, in a 5-0 vote on
Wednesday.

The measure would create a Mental Health Emerging Therapies Task Force
that’d be tasked with spending two years reviewing the current scientific
literature, supporting additional clinical research and “developing policy
recommendations for safe, ethical, and culturally-informed implementation”
of a psychedelics therapy program.

“The legislature finds that addressing the mental health crisis affecting
the residents of the State, particularly among veterans, first responders,
and trauma survivors, is urgent,” the bill, SB 3199, states. “Suicide
continues to be a leading cause of preventable death, and the State must
explore all safe and effective treatment options supported by scientific
evidence.”

Noting that the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already
designated psilocybin and MDMA as breakthrough therapies in the treatment
of serious mental health conditions, which could lend to future
rescheduling under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the Hawaii
legislation says the state “must proactively prepare public health,
clinical, and research systems for safe and equitable implementation.”

Members of the task force would have to include representatives of the
state Department of Health (DOH), the attorney general’s office, the Office
of Wellness and Resilience (OWR), the University of Hawaii’s medical school
and more.

As drafted, DOH would have overseen the task force, but that was amended in
committee to make it the responsibility of “an entity with demonstrated
expertise in primary scientific research and pharmaceutical or medical
education.”

“Administrative placement of the task force within an entity with
demonstrated expertise in primary scientific research and pharmaceutical or
medical education shall not be construed to transfer, delegate, diminish,
expand, or otherwise modify any regulatory, enforcement, licensing,
scheduling, or rulemaking authority vested in the Department of Health,
Board of Pharmacy, or any other state agency,” the bill as revised says.
“All statutory authority relating to controlled substances, professional
licensure, and public health regulation shall remain with the appropriate
executive branch agencies as provided by law.”

The proposal has been referred to the House Ways & Means Committee for
further discussion.

It appears that the bill would build upon prior work conducted by a
separate psychedelics task force that convened for the first time in 2023,
with a similar goal of exploring pathways for therapeutic access into
FDA-approved breakthrough drugs like psilocybin.


*— Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug
policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon
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charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.*


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Meanwhile, Hawaii senators recently approved a bill to legalize low-dose
and low-potency marijuana, even as their counterparts in the House of
Representatives say cannabis prohibition will not be ended in the state
this year.

The Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday also approved a bill
to allow patients to immediately access medical cannabis once their
registrations are submitted, instead of having to wait until their cards
are delivered as is the case under current law.

A separate marijuana legalization bill that contained provisions making the
reform contingent on changes to federal law or the state Constitution, SB
2421, was deferred for action. Both Senate and House panels additionally
deferred action on a measure to allow for the sale of certain hemp-derived
cannabinoid products.

The Senate committee action comes after key House lawmakers signaled that
cannabis legalization proposals would not be advancing in the 2026 session,
citing a lack of sufficient support in their chamber.

*Image courtesy of CostaPPR.*

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