The Maine House of Representatives on Monday narrowly passed a bill that would legalize possession of up to one ounce of psilocybin by people 21 and older.
The measure, LD 1034 from Rep. Grayson Lookner (D), would not authorize or regulate production, distribution or commercial sales of the psychedelic substance, however.
Earlier this session, a House committee had moved to significantly amend the proposal to instead simply require the creation of a “Commission to Study Pathways for Creating a Psilocybin Services Program,” but at Monday’s floor session, the full chamber instead voted 70–69 to pass the bill as introduced.
The legislation next proceeds to the Senate.
The legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee had advanced the measure to the House floor with a divided report. Five members called for the amended measure to go forward, while four were in favor of passing the original proposal and three did not want the psilocybin bill to pass in any form.
In an unusual turn, one of the minority reports—that the bill pass as introduced—was taken up first at Monday’s floor session. It subsequently passed, and the amended version of the measure wasn’t considered.
Lookner before the vote called the proposal “a matter of compassion, common sense and justice.”
“We have before us an opportunity to alleviate profound suffering, particularly among our veterans who have borne the invisible wounds of war, while correcting an unjust and irrational law that persists only because of outdated stigma,” he said.
“This bill would simply decriminalize possession of psilocybin for adults 21 years of age and older. It does not legalize sales. It does not create recreational markets,” the sponsor added. “It simply says that if an adult chooses to possess this substance for personal use, they should not face arrest, jail time nor criminal record.”
Rep. Daniel Ankeles (D) rose to ask colleagues: “What is the threshold at which we put one of our fellow Mainers into the criminal justice system?”
“I think we shouldn’t be putting people like this in the criminal justice system,” he continued, “who are treating their mental health.”
Opponents to the bill argued that psilocybin wasn’t yet well enough understood to remove penalties around possession, pointing out that few in the state are actually put behind bars for use or low-level possession of psychedelics.
“Now this product may it may have some potential,” said Rep. Amy Arata (R), who pointed to isolated cases of people who’d used psilocybin or marijuana being violent or suicidal, “but it needs to be studied. It’s being studied. Let’s give it time to be studied. Let’s figure out what appropriate dosages are and concentrations and things of that nature right now. We’re not ready for this.”
Rep. David Boyer (R) responded that he could “rail off a bunch of anecdotes about dumb, bad, horrible things that people did while they were using alcohol, but it would take a lot longer. Everyone kind of wants to go home today.”
He noted that there’s evidence that psilocybin can help veterans with PTSD, terminal patients at the end of their lives who are “struggling with their own mortality” and people struggling with substance use disorder.
“That’s a really powerful idea, that you could cure addiction,” he said.
“I don’t know that we should we should put someone in jail for 364 days for a handful of of mushrooms,” Boyer, who previously worked for the Marijuana Policy Project and led Maine’s successful cannabis legalization ballot campaign in 2016, added. “I don’t think that fits the crime. Our courts are clogged. Our jails are full. We shouldn’t waste tax dollars and government resources on protecting people from themselves. We own our own bodies.”
In a comment to Marijuana Moment after the House passage of the bill, Boyer said he was “proud of the good, bipartisan work done in the Maine House today.”
“Adults trying to heal with psilocybin should be free from the fear of jail time for using a natural medicine,” he said. “Hopefully the governor agrees and will not veto this important legislation.”
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If passed by the Senate, LD 1034 would then proceed to Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D).
The proposal as originally filed had support from advocacy groups such as ACLU of Maine and the Reason Foundation, which both submitted testimony in favor of LD 1034 at an initial hearing last month.
Under the now-abandoned committee amendment to the bill, the study commission would have needed to submit a report to the legislature by November 4, 2026 that outlined its findings and recommendations, “including suggested legislation, for presentation to the joint standing committees” on criminal justice, public safety, veterans and legal affairs and health and human services.
House passage of the measure 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.
Meanwhile, Maine 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.
Kyle Jaeger contributed reporting.
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