Policy Advocacy
At the Coalition for Psychedelic Safety and Education (CPSE), we collaborate with policymakers, researchers, medical professionals, and community advocates to develop and support policies that ensure safer access to psychedelic substances. Through comprehensive education campaigns, evidence-based policy recommendations and active participation in legislative processes, we strive to shape a regulatory landscape that prioritizes safer access based on accurate, evidence-based, and balanced information. We also believe that public education must come before, or at a minimum, alongside regulatory access.
States considering policies around psychedelic substances must be informed and urged to implement responsible policy, including education, data collection and regulations for guided use.
Policymakers need to be thoughtful about the role of supervision and facilitators when considering changes to psychedelics policies.
It is critical to develop a data infrastructure on psychedelics, particularly on potential adverse effects, to better support policy analyses and public health programming.
It is essential that comprehensive regulatory frameworks are developed, including guidelines for screening, facilitation, supervision and integration of psychedelic use.
Psychedelic Legalization & Decriminalization Tracker
We do not oppose decriminalization of psychedelics per se. We believe in public education about harms and risks, as well as potential benefits, first. We advocate for regulatory access with safety guardrails to mitigate potential harms. For individuals seeking to use psychedelic substances, guardrails include medical and mental health screenings, facilitation by a trained and trusted guide, integration after use and quality control of substances. There also needs to be safety scaffolding in the event something goes awry, such as first responder training and easy access to therapists trained to handle adverse reactions. Finally, we advocate for public data collection of adverse events to improve our knowledge of psychedelics and increase safer access.
Psychedelics, other than ketamine, are currently listed by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration as Schedule I controlled substances. They are serious, mind-altering drugs. They include psilocybin, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), ibogaine, mescaline and dimethyltryptamine (DMT). They are illegal to use under federal law unless under tightly controlled research protocols. Ketamine is a Schedule III drug, meaning it is legal when prescribed for medical use as an anesthetic.
Two states – Oregon and Colorado – have passed laws decriminalizing psilocybin and are setting up regulatory therapeutic frameworks for access and use. Massachusetts has a measure on its November 2024 ballot that would decriminalize natural psychedelic substances (psilocybin, psilocyn, DMT, mescaline and ibogaine) and allow regulated access under the supervision of trained facilitators in licensed therapeutic centers. Twenty other states have convened workgroups to develop proposals for regulatory access programs.