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Updated: May 10, 2024 @ 12:00 pm
After being sworn in, Rep. Tristan Roberts was seated in the Vermont House of Representatives in January 2023.
General Assignment Reporter
After being sworn in, Rep. Tristan Roberts was seated in the Vermont House of Representatives in January 2023.
MONTPELIER — Vermont lawmakers passed a bill to establish an advisory working group tasked with studying psychedelic therapy to improve mental health.
Rep. Tristan Roberts, D-Windham-6, called the passage of S.114 “great news for veterans, frontline workers, victims of crime and abuse and anyone suffering from PTSD, chronic depression or other issues.”
“The bill is headed to Gov. Scott’s desk and I urge him to sign it and help Vermont take this small step forward in offering this medicine to Vermonters who badly need it,” Roberts said.
Jason Maulucci, press secretary for Scott, said the bill isn’t one “we’ve put any focus on at this point, but will review it when it reaches the governor’s desk.”
The bill says the working group will review existing research then make “findings and recommendations regarding the advisability of the establishment of a state program to permit health care providers to administer psychedelics in a therapeutic setting and the impact on public health of allowing individuals to legally access psychedelics under state law.”
In an impassioned speech from the floor Wednesday, Roberts credited psychedelic therapy with helping him to “uncover again my true nature” after experiencing mental health challenges associated with being a victim of child abuse.
“I’m talking about it today because I want to spread a message of hope to other individuals diagnosed with childhood PTSD, or anyone diagnosed with PTSD, chronic depression, anxiety, addiction, cluster headaches, or any of the dozens of chronic, incurable conditions for which psychedelic assisted therapy has demonstrated remarkable efficacy in controlled, FDA-validated clinical trials,” he said.
Throughout his life, Roberts sought out medical treatment and later turned to alternative medicine. In his late 30s, he received treatment for trauma and began to make progress. Two or three years in, he heard of psychedelic assisted therapy and found a doctor in California who offered what he called “a legal, safe and proven form” of the therapy.
Psychedelic therapy, Roberts said, “can be described as taking a deeply rutted ski slope and laying down 12 inches of light powder. Instead of being triggered and involuntarily symptomatic, I’ve found choices.”
Roberts said he sleeps much better now while depression and anxiety often move through him rather than sticking around and defining him.
“These medicines aren’t magic. They are real and they work,” Roberts said. “The psychedelic medicines that I have been prescribed and benefited from have been delivered in a single sitting, sometimes just once, and sometimes repeated and spaced out over time per doctor’s orders.”
Roberts declined to say what medicines he used, as any specific one has critics and stigmas. He noted the bill doesn’t change laws related to drug possession.
“This is not a ‘decriminalization’ bill,” he said. “It started out with a provision to decriminalize, but the Senate removed that provision prior to sending it to the House. I think that is a wise decision. This bill makes Vermont’s consideration of psychedelic medicine a matter of science and public health policy.”
The Brattleboro Retreat is supportive of S.114. Staff from the mental health hospital have testified on the bill, believing psychedelic therapy has potential to be an effective treatment option.
“It’s something that we’ve been following for a number of years,” said Kurt White, vice president of community partnerships/communications at the Retreat.
Retreat staff have participated in advanced training for MDMA treatment for PTSD, which is being reviewed by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Approval is anticipated late this year.
White called the treatment “potentially transformative … for that complicated problem.” Clinical trials show the diagnosis disappearing for 65 to 70 percent of participants, he said.
Psilocybin mushrooms, LSD and MDMA are “performing so well in clinical trials that they’re on a fast track to be considered for FDA approval for therapeutic use,” White said.
At the Retreat, working groups are researching and training in psychedelic therapy. White will be giving a talk on the treatment on May 21.
“It sounds kind of nutty,” he said, “but this is a transformative moment in the whole mental health field. It’s not a panacea. It’s not without risks. But the potential of therapies that involve use of these substances to help people is really enormous. We haven’t seen the like in probably 70 years.”
Drug treatments for mental health tended to have only incremental improvements instead of big leaps forward, White said. He described being “really happy the state of Vermont is interested in getting a group together to consider how we can be a leader among states” looking into psychedelic therapies.
His hope is to have the Retreat named as a participant of the working group in the final version of the bill.
“I’d love to be involved,” he said. “If not, I’m in touch with others who are involved in that group. We’re definitely going to be following this closely.”
White said the Vermont Psychedelics Society has hosted conferences for years, bringing in experts from around the U.S. and world to provide education. The group also helped with the bill.
The House version of the bill says the working group will be made up of the following officials or their designees: the dean of the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, president of the Vermont Psychological Association, president of the Vermont Psychiatric Association, executive director of the Vermont Board of Medical Practice, director of the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation, executive director of the Vermont Medical Society, state commissioner of health, and commissioner of mental health. They will seek testimony from Johns Hopkins’ Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, in addition to any other entities with an expertise in psychedelics. A written report will be due by Nov. 15.
The Vermont Department of Health Department hasn’t taken a position on the bill.
“Our involvement, as currently drafted, appears to be serving as a member of the working group, and we have no objection to that,” said Ben Truman, spokesperson for the department.
General Assignment Reporter
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