California Update: Psychedelics Bill Gets Gutted By Committee, Sen. Wiener's Reform Push Moves To 2023

The August 11 Assembly Appropriations Committee meeting was decisive. Senator Scott Wiener (D), author of Senate Bill 519 that seeks decriminalization for psychedelics in California, announced on August 12 that he will take no more action towards enacting the reform measure.

The meeting set out amendments to the original, Senate-passed bill, which were initially very unclear. Once explained, they showed a key point of the proposal had been but out: the possession and use of small quantities of certain psychoactive substances like psilocybin, LSD, DMT and MDMA for adults.

Actually, it had been arranged in such a way as to only approve state-led studies of potential psychedelics reforms. 

Faced with that news, Sen. Wiener reaffirmed his belief in psychedelics’ potential in mental health and addiction treatments, and therefore stated that he will not give up.

“While I am extremely disappointed by this result, I am looking forward to reintroducing this legislation next year and continuing to make the case that it’s time to end the War on Drugs,” he said.

The legislation had already been placed on hold in 2021 in order to build wider support before the August 11 assembly, Yet it did not manage to do that. With the new amendments, rumors have it that Sen. Wiener will stand down for the remainder of this year but will instead attempt to pass a broad measure that includes legalization in 2023.

As Marijuana Moment recalls, the psychedelics advocacy community hasn’t been all too happy over the proposal, given previous amendments to include possession amounts and remove ketamine from the list of legalized substances.

Specifically, Decriminalize Nature stood against the new version of SB 519, presented in the August 11 reunion, stating that “As a society, we must oppose any process where corporate interests attempt to seize control of something that belongs ‘to the people.’”

Photo courtesy of Pretty Drug Things on Unsplash.