Arizona Senate Bill 1570 Overview
- Senate Bill 1570 would create a regulatory framework to govern facilitated access to on-site psilocybin services.
- Commercial entities would be licensed to safely manufacture psilocybin products and to deliver psilocybin services via licensed, trained administrators.
- Administration of psilocybin would take place only on the premises of a licensed facility; consumers may never take psilocybin products home.
- A counseling session from licensed professionals would be required before consumers can schedule a subsequent appointment to be administered psilocybin.
- SB 1570 would retain current prohibitions on the commercial manufacture and sale of other psychedelic compounds.
Promise of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy
- Over the past decade, the medical and mental health communities have increasingly recognized the potential of psychedelic therapies for the treatment of intractable mental health conditions like addiction, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other disorders.
- Psychedelics are demonstrating the potential to be more effective than conventional drugs now being used to treat a range of mental health disorders.
- Legal and logistical barriers to innovation have persisted even as the range of potential uses for psychedelic substances has expanded.
- In 2018 and 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration designated psilocybin as a “breakthrough therapy” for major depressive disorder and severe treatment-resistant depression.
- Psilocybin has low physiological toxicity, low risk of abuse or addiction, safe psychological reactions, and no linked persistent harmful physiological or psychological effects during or after use, according to thousands of years of anecdotal data as well as contemporary scientific investigations.
Bottom Line
Arizona Senate Bill 1570 is limited in scope, creating a regulated and limited program to access psilocybin, which has shown tremendous promise in the therapeutic treatment of a range of neurological and mental health conditions, with minimal risk to both public safety and public health.
Read the full backgrounder: Regulated Psilocybin Access in Arizona Would Benefit Mental Health