Scott Wiener. (Photo: Kevin Sanders for California Globe)
The New Plan For Psychedelic Drug Decriminalization In California
Senator Wiener to work with Republicans on a limited therapy-only focused bill
By Evan Symon, November 11, 2023 3:15 am
The potential legalization of certain psychedelic drugs in California continued to take more odd turns in the past few weeks, with Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) recently announcing a new plan: working with Republicans to create a bill that would keep both sides happy.
For several year, psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin (magic mushrooms), dimethyltryptamine (psychedelic drug DMT), ibogaine (psychedelic substance), and mescaline (psychedelic hallucinogen) have been close to being decriminalized in California. Senator Wiener led the charge beginning in 2021, introducing SB 519 to the state Senate. While the use of psychedelics in helping combat PTSD and other afflictions has been seen more and more positively over the years, the ever present negative effects of the drugs had largely ended any real legalization effort.
However, Wiener used a combined approach with SB 519, writing the bill as a way to end the mass incarceration that occurred during the war on drugs, as well as to increase scientific and medical testing to help those suffering from mental health conditions such as PTSD and depression. Early opposition forced Wiener to continue to amend the bill. All synthetic hallucinogens were removed to make the bill more palatable, removing lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), ketamine, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy, molly). Other troubling drugs such as ketamine and peyote derivatives of decriminalized mescaline were also taken out, with the bill ultimately being gutted almost completely, removing everything but a single study on the use of the remaining drugs. While bill fizzled out in the Assembly, it did manage to narrowly pass the Senate, leading to Wiener to try again this year.
Introduced as SB 58 earlier this year, Wiener focused on only plant-based psychedelics in the bill. This version proved far more successful. While opposition against the bill was still high, his changes managed to win many lawmakers over. In the Assembly, it passed 43-15, but with a much larger than usual 22 Assemblymembers choosing not to vote. The bill then went to the Senate again because of the number of amendments being made since May. There it was finally passed with a 21-14 vote, but with 5 abstaining, with the bill being sent to the Governor in September.
But, despite Governor Newsom expressing support for psychedelics for the use in medical treatments in the past, Newsom ultimately vetoed the bill. While a set back, Newsom left a door open for Newsom and supporters, saying that he would support such a bill if it had therapeutic guidelines and made clear that decriminalization was for medical use only. Wiener immediately vowed that a new bill would be in place for 2024 with such guardrails in place.
That was until a near hijacking and crash of an Alaskan Airlines flight late last month by a pilot who had previously taken magic mushrooms put another damper on legalization efforts, highlighting the dangers of using them to the public once again. Now faced with even more opposition, Senator Wiener announced recently a new way forward – bipartisanship.
As it turned out, Assemblywoman Marie Waldron (R-Escondido) has had a similar bill in the Assembly for most of the year – AB 941. However, the bill severely limits how psychedelics could be used. Essentially, only licensed clinical counselors can administer psychedelic substances to combat veterans suffering from issues such as PTSD as part of a wider-scoped therapy. While the bill is currently halted after not so much a hearing, AB 941 drew immediate interest from Wiener following his bill failure due to it not only meeting Governor Newsom’s request for guidelines and making it medicinal only, but also because of support from at least some Republicans due to it being limited to a clinical degree to only veterans.
Wiener, Waldron team up for new bill
With Wiener still wanting some sort of legalization in place and Waldron wanting better therapy for veterans, both teamed up for a bill due to come out next year. As they have worked together on dozens of bills in the past, the team up happened with relative ease.
“Per the governor’s message, our bill will focus on providing access to regulated psychedelic therapies administered by licensed and vetted facilitators,” said Wiener earlier this month. “The question of decriminalizing personal use & possession will be left for subsequent efforts.”
Waldron, meanwhile, has been adamant about wanting to gather research data on psychedelic therapy for veterans, adding that “There’s been some success with psychedelic therapy in clinical settings with professionals who have the proper training. Many of them say they don’t have those thoughts anymore. If we could save lives, that’s what it’s all about.”
Both also noted that they will be looking at Colorado’s new psychedelics law for some framework.
Experts told the Globe on Friday that what Wiener and Waldron are saying about a new 2024 bill his completely in line with what medical experts, psychedelics supporters, and those opposing psychedelic decriminalization have been saying for years: that it needs to be medically tested and focused on therapy first.
“We’ve been saying that that should be path for years,” said former police officer and current drug counselor Marty Ribera. “Wiener kept pushing decriminalization, but most people, including the Governor, don’t want that. What the majority of the public does support right now is that it be used in therapy in a very limited capacity with proper guidelines. Waldron was on the money this year in focusing on veterans.
“And now look. Wiener has thrown decriminalization out completely now and possession and is adding in stricter guidelines. We have been screaming at him to do this. He finally listened, or more realistically, had to pick a different path.
“This way, you’re getting a lot more people on board, and by treating it as a very limited medical treatment, you’re opening to door for a slow rollout into greater medical usage as we study it more and more. People are still going to 100% oppose this, I know many in law enforcement who will. But this way, you win a lot of people back. All he had to do was talk with a Republican and ask what he was doing wrong.”
The new joint Wiener-Waldron bill is to be expanded on either later this year or early next year.
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“Experts told the Globe on Friday”
What experts? I put this in the same category as “anonymous sources”. This does not do anything for the credibility of the California Globe.
The following paragraph lists the first of the experts in the article: “We’ve been saying that that should be path for years,” said former police officer and current drug counselor Marty Ribera.
Evan Symon has covered this particular topic and the bills for several years, and provides links to his other articles.
We get that the source’s name is Marty Ribera and that he used to be a police officer. But what is his affiliation? He doesn’t seem to have published anything and there’s no information about what supports his opinions. A Google search on his name shows only that he does counseling and gives opinions opposing drug decriminalization.
the CA Globe is one of the only news sites in California that actually does it’s research and informs CA residents and voters. Older print publications are printing fluff and going bankrupt, or parroting AP articles from the East Cosst that turn a blind eye to our corrupt Banana Republic and continue to pretend that Newsom is a genius. I for one am grateful that the Globe exists to inform us and will be reaching out to the Republican working with Wiener on this bill. I don’t think our veterans should be used as a test group for the “potential” benefits of psychedelic drug use. Veterans deserve more than Wiener’s little-researched bill. I agree with ShowandTell that this is just a speed bump on Wiener’s road to full legalization. the airplane pilot’s destroyed career should be a lesson to all of us.
CaliGirl – I hope to be contacting Asm Marie Waldron’s office too on this subject.
And you make a great point that our veterans deserve better than to be used as guinea pigs to test the questionable and risky effects of psychedelics substances.
Really? Do you ask the same of the sources on CNN or NYT? Many sources ask for limited personal info, often for this very reason.
First of all, does anyone really believe that Sen Scott Wiener is continuing to push legalization of psychedelics because of some public-minded, help-for-veterans reason? I don’t, and he himself is quoted above, “The question of decriminalizing personal use & possession will be left for subsequent efforts.”
So there you have it, Wiener wants to keep the door open for eventual full-on legalization of these substances. The pilot who recently tried to shut down the engines of an aircraft carrying 83 passengers under the effects, whether delayed or not, of magic mushrooms, is really the only argument one needs against full legalization, ever. There are plenty of stories out there of ‘shrooms going south, both personal and public and plenty of writings and videos documenting the effects to pile on with. Let’s examine those, why don’t we, and put aside the cherry-picked studies done and handed over to us by the psychedelic-legalization proponents.
When my pet venomous snake bites me 50 times I make the decision to stop playing with him and I finally figure out that I need to stay far, far away. So it should be with Sen Scott Wiener. He leaves a wide path of destructive legislation in his wake. I challenge anyone to name a constructive, helpful bill that has had his name on it. You know —– something, ANYTHING, that has been or would be good for California and Californians. Every bill or bill-become-law that I can think of has had to do with pushing harmful cross-sex hormones and mutilating transgender surgery — and calling it all “gender-affirming” —- on confused brainwashed minor children, or killing single-family suburban neighborhoods with gigantic stack-and-pack rabbit-hutch housing, or making sure that adults can get their hands on minors for sexual purposes with impunity, or making sure that HIV-positive individuals can infect others with impunity — and more — and now there is his persistent, years-long push to legalize psychedelics.
What his motivations are in this — whether money or something more sinister — I don’t know and I don’t care. I am only pointing out that the guy has a track record and it sure-as-heck is not and has not been a helpful and benevolent one.
Before full-blown legalization of recreational marijuana the move by the pushers of it was to normalize it and mainstream it by framing it as “medical marijuana.” Full legalization of this sketchy, harmful, and addictive drug, responsible for many MANY more severe medical and life problems than first acknowledged, happened thereafter in the blink of an eye with little discussion and no debate, with the many downsides only brought to light AFTER legalization, and without apology, by the way. Calling it “medical marijuana” added unearned legitimacy to its legalization, and it’s safe to say that this will also be the process undertaken by Sen Wiener and his ilk on the road to legalizing psychedelic drugs. We need to learn the lesson, keep our distance from the venomous snake, and NOT be fooled again.
@Showandtell: That’s not much of a “challenge” you put up there!
If you look at Wiener’s website, he lists his current legislation. First on the list is SB-4, passed in 32-2 in the Senate, 73-1 in the Assembly, signed by the Governor. It allows religious institutions and independent higher-ed institutions to build affordable housing on their properties. I don’t know why you’d oppose this freedom for relgious and higher-ed institutions. I also don’t have time to tell you what else is on the list. You can look it up for yourself, no?
BTW: I’ve found topical cannabis products to be incredibly helpful for arthritis. I know a lot of people (oldsters like me) who use it that way, too. I never smoke the stuff (for obvious health reasons) and I’m grateful that it’s now available. Why is this so “sketchy, harmful and addictive”??
Could your rebuttal in defense of the creepiest guy in the legislature be any lamer?
“…writing the bill as a way to end the mass incarceration that occurred during the war on drugs…”
FACT: Not one single person is in California prison today for anything mushroom related who wouldn’t be locked up for doing the exact same thing after Weiner’s new law as written gets passed.
It would be nice if, when they change the subject, they were truthful.
The “mass incarceration” statement was a reference to criminal records expungement. The original version of SB-519 (2021-2022 session) did include expungement of records, and it would have applied to all psychedelics, not just mushroom growing or possession. That was removed in committee because processing so many expungements would massively increase the State’s cost to implement SB-519.
Per the Legislative Analyst’s Office (regarding one of the initiatives currently circulating for signatures): under current State law, “possession of psilocybin is generally punishable as a misdemeanor and may result in up to a one-year sentence in county jail and/or a fine, while selling psilocybin is a felony and may result in a jail or state prison sentence.” Prohibition affects not only the small number of people fined or jailed, but also people who are benefiting from use but hiding it and paying more for access. The population that could benefit from use but who don’t because of prohibition is probably over a million Californians .
Creepy Democrat Senator Scott Wiener is at it again with his psychedelic drug legalization? Why does he obsess with passing psychedelic drug legislation? Maybe he wants as many Californians as possible hallucinating and drugged out of their minds so Democrats can implement their Marxist globalist agenda with as little opposition as possible? Maybe his abuses psychedelic drugs while engaging in perverted sex acts? With his crazy dead eyes, he looks like someone you’d want to keep away from your kids?