Psychedelics are becoming more mainstream as research reveals their potential benefits. Several states, including New Mexico and Oregon, have legalized psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, for therapeutic use, and Minnesota may become the next.
A bipartisan bill, HF 2906, that would create a pilot program for psilocybin therapy, passed its first committee hearing this week. The measure still faces multiple hurdles in the Minnesota Legislature, but it appears to have support from both parties.
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The program would cap enrollment at 1,000 patients during its first three years. The state health commissioner would determine qualifying conditions and set regulations for testing and facilitation. The bill would also limit the number of facilitators to 50 during the pilot program. The Office of Cannabis Management would oversee patient registries and operator licensing.
Under the bill, patients must be at least 21 and would go through three treatment phases. The preparation phase would involve meeting with a trained facilitator. Next comes the administration phase, followed by an integration phase in which patients process the experience with support.
The Minnesota Psychedelic Medicine Task Force recommended the creation of a state-regulated psilocybin program in a report last year. The report also suggested decriminalizing certain plant-based psychedelics, including mushrooms.
HF 2906 would also move psilocybin from Schedule I to Schedule IV of the state’s controlled substances list. The compound remains a Schedule I substance on the federal level.
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The measure has support in the state’s House and Senate from across party lines. However, budgetary constraints could hold up the program.
Minneapolis, the state’s most populous city, effectively decriminalized psilocybin through an executive order by Mayor Jacob Frey in 2023. The order made enforcement of laws against plant-based psychedelics the city’s lowest policing priority.
Meanwhile, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has advocated for broader psychedelic reform at the federal level.
As support for psilocybin policy reform grows nationwide, Minnesota could become one of the next states to expand legal access.
