Psychedelic drugs and the law: What’s next?
Ben Seal
Knowable Magazine March 14, 2024 DOI: 10.1146/knowable-031424-2 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | News report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Law |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Oregon's first licensed psilocybin service center opened in June 2023, allowing adults over 21 to use psilocybin in a state-licensed facility. The report describes this as a new phase in a two-decade psychedelic revival, with reform efforts spreading across states even as psilocybin remains federally illegal under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. |
Abstract
When Oregon's first psilocybin service center opened in June 2023, allowing those over 21 to take mind-altering mushrooms in a state-licensed facility, the psychedelic revival that had been unfolding over the past two decades entered an important new phase. Psilocybin is still illegal on the federal level. But now, as researchers explore the therapeutic potential of psilocybin and other psychedelics, including LSD and MDMA (also known as Molly or ecstasy), legal reform efforts are spreading across the country — raising tensions between state and federal laws. As a class, psychedelic drugs were outlawed in the United States by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.