Another Hawaii House committee has approved a Senate-passed bill to support clinical research on psychedelic-assisted therapies using substances such as psilocybin and MDMA.
About two weeks after the measure from Sen. Chris Lee (D) cleared its first House panel stop, it advanced in an unanimous 15-0 vote in the Finance Committee on Wednesday.
As approved by the Senate last month, the proposal would establish a state “mental health emerging therapies special fund,” which could be used to subsidize clinical trials, establish public-private research partnerships and eventually develop state programs around patient access for “compassionate use.”
The prior House committee made a series of amendments of the Senate proposal, however. For example, the structure of the bill was revised to create a two-year pilot program, which would be organized under the Office of Wellness and Resilience (OWR) rather than under the state Department of Health.
The pilot program would be funded through a million-dollar annual investment from the legislature, which could be matched in private funds. Overall, that could mean $4 million in total funding over the span of the pilot.
As defined in the bill, “emerging therapies” refers to psychedelic or entactogenic substances that are either approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or under Hawaii state law as well as compounds undergoing FDA-approved clinical trials.
“Compassionate use,” meanwhile, would mean “treating patients suffering from terminal or life-threatening conditions,” including treatment-resistant mental health conditions.
Though the bill doesn’t list specific conditions, a report from the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, which previously advanced the plan, mentions depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and PTSD as “widespread and affecting millions worldwide and many in the State’s community.”
A report from a second Senate panel that approved the bill, the Committee on Ways and Means, says that “the special fund established and research supported by this measure will help facilitate patient access to innovative mental health treatments.”
Ahead of its latest committee stop, members received more than 100 pages of written testimony from state agencies, advocacy groups and interested individuals.
OWR, which would be responsible for overseeing the psychedelics research initiative, said the measure “provides an important opportunity to create a pathway for those in need to have access to innovative and potentially life-saving treatments for trauma and mental health challenges, within the context of closely monitored clinical research.”
The office did request that lawmakers consider additional amendments, draft language of which it provided, to “extend program authorization provided by this bill, as timelines for contracting, obtaining regulatory approvals, adopting rules if needed, and establishing the programmatic framework for deployment of patient services may require flexibility with uncertain timelines considering likely disruption to federal and other agencies and processes.”
The organization Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS) also voiced support for the legislation, noting that, while “other states have taken important steps, Hawaii has the opportunity to take the next giant leap in psychedelic leadership.”
“By making a larger investment and designing a more ambitious program, Hawaii could move beyond the foundational steps laid by Texas and other states,” it said. “This would be a bold initiative—one that ensures veterans can access these therapies now while also contributing to the broader national conversation on how to best integrate psychedelic treatments into our healthcare system. Hawaii could lead the way, setting a precedent for the future of psychedelic medicine.”
Jesse MacLachlan, state policy and advocacy director of the group Reason for Hope, submitted testimony emphasizing that the bill represents “a vital step toward addressing the growing burden of trauma-related mental health conditions.”
“Psychedelic-assisted therapies, including MDMA and psilocybin, are showing exceptional promise in clinical trials, offering rapid and durable relief where traditional treatments fall short,” MacLachlan said. “We owe it to our Veterans, first responders, and all Hawaiians suffering from mental health conditions to pursue the most promising treatments available.”
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The Senate in February also narrowly defeated a separate proposal that would have increased fivefold the amount of cannabis that a person could possess without risk of criminal charges. The body voted 12–11 against the decriminalization measure, SB 319, from Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D).
Had the measure become law, it would have increased the amount of cannabis decriminalized in Hawaii from the current 3 grams up to 15 grams. Possession of any amount of marijuana up to that 15-gram limit would have been classified as a civil violation, punishable by a fine of $130.
A separate Senate bill that would have legalized marijuana for adults, meanwhile, stalled for the session. That measure, SB 1613, had yet to make it out of its current committee despite a legislative deadline last month.
While advocates feel there’s sufficient support for the legalization proposal in the Senate, it’s widely believed that House lawmakers would ultimately scuttle the measure, as they did lasts month with a legalization companion bill, HB 1246.
Some observers pointed out that there may still be legislative maneuvers available to revive the Senate legalization bill this session, though it’s unclear whether lawmakers will pursue them.
Last session, a Senate-passed legalization bill also fizzled out in the House.
The House vote to stall the bill came just days after approval from a pair of committees at a joint hearing. Ahead of that hearing, the panels received nearly 300 pages of testimony, including from state agencies, advocacy organizations and members of the public.
Meanwhile, legislation is advancing this session to allow healthcare providers to recommend cannabis to treat any condition they believe it would benefit, instead of only those maladies on a specific list, as is the case under current law.
Separately, the House Committee on Labor in January unanimously voted to advance legislation that would protect state-registered medical marijuana patients from discrimination in the workplace. That bill, HB 325, has not yet been taken up in the Senate.
This past fall, regulators solicited proposals to assess the state’s current medical marijuana program—and also sought to estimate demand for recreational sales if the state eventually moves forward with adult-use legalization. Some read the move as a sign the regulatory agency saw a need to prepare to the potential reform.
Hawaii was the first U.S. state to legalize medical marijuana through its legislature, passing a law in 2000.
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Photo courtesy of Dick Culbert.
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