SENATE MEMORIAL 12

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2024

INTRODUCED BY

Jeff Steinborn and Craig W. Brandt and Stefani Lord and Elizabeth "Liz" Thomson

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO STUDY THE EFFICACY OF USING PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOMS FOR THERAPEUTIC TREATMENTS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PROGRAM FOR PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOMS TO BE USED FOR THERAPEUTIC MEDICAL TREATMENTS.

 

     WHEREAS, in 2023, the prevalence of mental health illness among adults in New Mexico is at an all-time high, with thirty-six and four-tenths percent of adults found to have reported symptoms of anxiety or depression; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has one of the highest suicide rates in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, a large portion of suicides in New Mexico are veterans and first responders diagnosed with depression or posttraumatic stress disorder; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has one of the highest rates of drug overdoses in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, the department of health's website reports that New Mexico's alcohol-related death rate is the highest in the nation; and

     WHEREAS, studies conducted at New York university, Johns Hopkins university, the university of Minnesota and other institutions have shown medical treatments using psilocybin can relieve major depressive disorder symptoms with supportive psychotherapy; and

     WHEREAS, the United States food and drug administration has twice granted medical providers a "breakthrough therapy designation" for psilocybin for the treatment of major depressive disorder; and

     WHEREAS, the United States department of veterans affairs has made a public announcement stating its commitment to studying interventions such as psychedelic-assisted therapy to promote the mental health of the nation's veterans; and

     WHEREAS, randomized controlled trials of psilocybin with psychological support have reported significant antidepressant effects in adults with major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant depression; and

     WHEREAS, multiple studies have shown that psilocybin may act by stimulating the nerve cell regrowth responsible for emotion and memory in the hippocampus, supporting the hypothesis that psilocybin can help break traumatic cycles that occur in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder; and

     WHEREAS, in 2022, the university of New Mexico's chief of addiction psychiatry, Snehal Bhatt, was part of the research team that published a study in the journal of the American medical association's JAMA Psychiatry that found that psilocybin combined with psychotherapy can sharply reduce alcohol usage; and

     WHEREAS, Oregon and Colorado have recently enacted policies facilitating the use of psilocybin-based treatments, and multiple municipalities in the United States have decriminalized the possession of psilocybin;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of health be requested to study and evaluate the efficacy of psilocybin-based therapeutic treatments and the establishment of a program allowing the use of psilocybin mushrooms for therapeutic medical treatments and the necessary statutory or regulatory framework for developing such a program; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of health.

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