Grieco tells
New Times his bill is a patchwork culled from of proposals from other states, particularly a recent Oregon bill that legalized medical psilocybin. He hopes the level of detail in his 59-page proposal will make legislators take the drug seriously as a medical treatment. When people think of magic mushrooms, they think of listening to Pink Floyd and tie-dye T-shirts, but we should take this seriously, Grieco says. We have veterans and Floridians who have deep depression and post-traumatic stress disorder who are resistant to other medications.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has designated psilocybin treatment as a breakthrough therapy for major depressive disorder, putting its imprimatur on preliminary clinical evidence indicating that mushrooms may be more effective than existing means of treatment.
Amid pandemic, Floridaâs Republican Legislature tilts hard right
GOP lawmakers are fast-tracking a slate of politically-divisive proposals long-sought by the Legislatureâs more conservative members.
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Florida Senator Wilton Simpson, R- Trilby, left, greets Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, right, during a joint session of the Florida Legislature, Tuesday, January 14, 2020. [ SCOTT KEELER | TAMPA BAY TIMES ]
Published Feb. 3
TALLAHASSEE â Amid a global pandemic, dozens of people traveled to and gathered inside a Florida House committee room last week to protest a bill that Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican leaders say is necessary to clamp down on violent protests.
It was a heated two-hour meeting. About 70 speakers lambasted the bill, which many of them said is an unnecessary attempt to squelch their right to peaceably assemble.
Although Florida has a history of being slow on the draw when it comes to legalizing drug use (see: the failed effort to legalize recreational marijuana), a Florida lawmaker is hoping the state will take the leap into psychedelics and legalize medical mushrooms as early as 2022.
A recent bill introduced by Florida House Rep. Michael Grieco aims to legalize the use of psilocybin, a hallucinogenic substance found in certain types of so-called magic mushrooms, to treat mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety.
The Florida Psilocybin Mental Health Care Act would create state-sponsored clinics where patients suffering from mental-health disorders could be administered microdoses of psilocybin by a licensed medical professional. The patient would go through the experience, or trip, with the professional present and then be offered a post-trip counseling session.