The Minnesota House of Representatives voted 114-15 Thursday to adopt an amendment legalizing regulated psilocybin-assisted therapy for adults 21 and older, attaching it to broader health policy legislation now headed to the Senate.
The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Andy Smith (DFL), resembles a standalone bill the House Health Finance and Policy Committee approved earlier this year, but lacks that bill's language to reschedule psilocybin under state statute. Smith filed a similar measure last year that stalled; the legislation draws on recommendations from a state psychedelics task force he created under prior law.
Under the legislation, eligible patients could receive psilocybin therapy at a licensed facility or approved private residence, administered by a registered facilitator. The program would launch with 20 to 50 licensed facilitators and at least three approved testing facilities, capping patient enrollment at 1,000 for the first three years. Sessions follow three phases: preparation, administration, and integration. The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) would oversee the program alongside a new Psychedelic Medicine Advisory Committee.
On the floor, Smith argued that research supports psilocybin's potential for treating depression, addiction, PTSD in veterans and public safety officers, and trauma and assault survivors. Reps. Max Rymer (R) and Nolan West (R) cited a recent executive order signed by President Donald Trump to expand psychedelics access, arguing Minnesota could capture federal dollars by acting early. "Many states are in no way ready to utilize that money. So by being early, we can have a program that will help many people with severe conditions, and we'll have it paid for by the federal government," West said. "That money is going to be spent, and it might as well be spent benefiting Minnesotans."
Kurtis Hanna, board president of the Psychedelic Access Project and former volunteer lobbyist for the state's psychedelics task force, said: "Advocating for cannabis law reform over the past 17 years was difficult—we narrowly passed medical cannabis in 2014 and adult-use legalization in 2023—so it's notable and encouraging that psychedelic law reform is resonating differently."
Separately, the Senate Finance Committee this week adopted an amendment directing OCM to regularly analyze federal program availability to fund a state psilocybin therapeutic use program for qualifying adults 21 and older.
