Maine lawmakers have advanced a bill that would effectively legalize low-level psilocybin possession for adults—but some are pushing to significantly amend the proposal to simply create an advisory commission that would study the issue.
On Wednesday, the legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee took up the psychedelics proposal from Rep. Grayson Lookner (D), ultimately reporting it out of committee with a divided report and sending it toward floor consideration despite disagreements among members.
Following debate, four members voted to move the bill as drafted, five members vote to pass an amended version that would remove the core legalization provisions and four members voted for a “ought not to pass” recommendation.
LD 1034 as introduced would change the state’s laws around possession of scheduled drugs, creating a carveout for possession of up to one ounce of psilocybin among people 21 and older. It would not authorize or regulate production, distribution or commercial sales of the substance.
Notably, the current legislation would remove penalties around possession of up to one ounce of psilocybin itself, not the mushrooms that produce the substance.
Its fiscal note says the state would not incur costs but instead that the reform could lead to “some minor reduction of workload associated with the minimal number of cases that will no longer be filed in the court system.”
The proposal has support from groups like ACLU of Maine and the Reason Foundation, which both submitted testimony in favor of LD 1034 at an initial hearing earlier this month.
When the legislation reaches floor consideration, the expectation is that lawmakers will consider the proposed amended version that received a plurality of votes in committee to require a study to further examine psilocybin legalization and make legislative recommendations for future action to the legislature.
This follows a separate effort in Maine last year to legalize psilocybin and allow adults to access the psychedelic at state-licensed facilities. But lawmakers watered down that bill—amending it to create a commission to further explore the reform instead—and it ultimately did not pass.
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Meanwhile, lawmakers in February voted to investigate possible conflicts of interest by a top marijuana official.
And last year, a law took effect allowing people to apply to have records of now-legal marijuana crimes sealed.
Photo courtesy of Dick Culbert.
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