Will Vermont Bring Back House Bill H.878?

Lawmakers in The Green Mountain State introduced a new bill in 2020 that would remove three psychedelics including, a psychoactive plant from Asia known as kratom from Vermont's list of controlled substances. If the bill would have passed, entheogenic drugs such as Peyote, Ayahuasca, and Psilocybin containing magic mushrooms will be decriminalized in this democratically controlled state.

We have a long road ahead of us as we fight for the freedom and liberty to use psychedelic substances for entheogenic purposes. “An act relating to decriminalizing certain drugs commonly used for medicinal, spiritual, religious, or entheogenic purpose”. This is language from House Bill H.878, which currently sits in the Vermont House Committee on Judiciary waiting to be revived. Brian Cina, the Vermont representative who introduced the bill states, "Its a waste of society's resources to criminalize healing practices that go back to the very roots of our humanity, whether plant medicines are used for treating pain or whether their use for seeking pleasure that is a healthcare choice." This bill represents a larger trend in the movement of the psychedelic industry gaining momentum. Currently, in America, they're 100 cities introducing reform laws aimed at providing safe access to entheogenic substances while also making personal possession, consumption, and cultivation among law enforcement's lowest priorities. Unfortunately Covid-19 has put a hold on legislation in the works because sponsors of these reform bills can get approval to collect signatures online. Cosponsors supporting the bill look at recent studies showing that drug prohibition disproportionately is enforced against minorities and low-income communities. Vermont's increased rates of suicide and drug overdoses make it a perfect candidate for this reform as we see psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelics providing long-term treatment for mental health issues including depression, addiction, and anxiety. Vermont legalized cannabis back in 2018 which helped pave the way for psychedelic reform. In July 2018, Governor Scott signed Act 86 that made recreational marijuana legal. However, Vermont’s law is not as broad as other states that have taken the same action. For example, Vermont does not allow for the retail sale of cannabis-containing products. Hopefully we see HB.878 brought back just as we have seen with the psychedelic renaissance reemerge in the 21st century.