STAND. COM. REP. NO. 489

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1454

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 1454 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PSILOCYBIN,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish the Therapeutic Psilocybin Working Group within the Department of Health to examine the medicinal and therapeutic effects of psilocybin or psilocybin-based products vis-à-vis mental health and the effectiveness of those products that have been legalized in other certain states, develop a long-term strategic plan to allow access to medicinal psilocybin for certain adults, and report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature before the Regular Session of 2024.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Wellness and Resilience; Happy Happy Happy LLC dba Beyond Mental Health; Honolulu Psychotherapy LLC; Drug Policy Forum of Hawai‘i, Inc.; Malama Mushrooms LLC; Veterans of War; Heroic Hearts Project, Inc.; Dawn Patrol Assessments, LLC; The Resort Group; Rainbow Tribal Culture Church of the Mother Earth; and sixty-two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health and Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition.

Your Committee finds that research being conducted on use of psilocybin and psilocybin-based products in treating mental health disorders caused by traumatic experiences, specifically depression, have suggested substantial antidepressant effects. Your Committee further finds that the United States Food and Drug Administration has designated treatment that uses psilocybin in a therapeutic manner for treatment-resistant depression as a "breakthrough therapy", and that two states, namely Oregon and Colorado, have legalized medicinal psilocybin as a tool to deal with various mental health conditions. This measure will allow the Legislature to make an informed decision on whether the State should, and if so, how the State can enable certain adults to safely access affordable therapeutic psilocybin or psilocybin-based products in the State.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Replacing the Director of Health with the Executive Director of Office of Wellness and Resilience as the chairperson of the Therapeutic Psilocybin Working Group;

(2) Inserting a blank appropriation to the Department of Health for the Therapeutic Psilocybin Working Group;

(3) Inserting an effective date of December 31, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1454, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1454, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health and Human Services,

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JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair