By David Matthews | New York Daily News
New Jersey lawmakers have introduced a bill that would make it the third state to legalize “magic mushrooms.”
Under the legislation, anyone 21 and older could consume or grow the mushrooms for medical or recreational purposes.
The bill would also expunge past and pending offenses involving the psychedelic drug.
The bill comes as Hackensack Meridian, one of the state’s largest healthcare providers, and U.K. biotechnology company Compass Pathways partnered to research a synthetic psilocybin treatment, according to NorthJersey.com.
The state health department would oversee licenses for facilities for production and sales. Those sites would not be allowed in residential neighborhoods or within 1,000 feet of a school.
Residents would also be allowed to grow their supplies own at home in limited amounts for personal use.
New Jersey’s state senate mulled over a similar bill last year, before it was pulled for revisions.
In 2020, Oregon used a ballot measure to become the first state to decriminalize psilocybin. Colorado followed suit in 2022. California lawmakers advanced legislation to do the same in 2023. The cities of Denver, Oakland, Seattle and Detroit have legalized the drug, too.
New Jersey previously legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2021 and sports betting in 2018.
Studies have shown that psilocybin — the naturally occurring chemical in psychedelic mushrooms that causes hallucinations — improves cognitive behavioral therapy for disorders like depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and even alcoholism.
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