Sponsored by:
Senator NICHOLAS P. SCUTARI
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Schepisi, Zwicker and Cruz-Perez
SYNOPSIS
Psilocybin Behavioral Health Access and Services Act; authorizes production and use of psilocybin to promote health and wellness; decriminalizes, and expunges past offenses involving, psilocybin production, possession, use, and distribution.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the production and use of psilocybin for certain purposes, decriminalizing and expunging past convictions for certain psilocybin-related conduct, and supplementing Title 24 of the Revised Statutes and Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Psilocybin Behavioral Health Access and Services Act.
2. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. New Jersey has a high prevalence of adults living with behavioral health conditions.
b. Studies conducted by nationally and internationally recognized medical institutions indicate that psilocybin has shown efficacy, tolerability, and safety in the treatment of a variety of behavioral health conditions, including, but not limited to, clinical dependence disorders, depression, anxiety disorders, and end-of-life psychological distress.
c. The United States Food and Drug Administration has determined that preliminary clinical evidence indicates psilocybin may demonstrate substantial improvement over available therapies for treatment-resistant depression, and has granted a breakthrough therapy designation for a treatment that uses psilocybin as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression.
d. It is the intent of the Legislature to facilitate the establishment of safe, legal, and affordable psilocybin service centers to provide residents of New Jersey who are 21 years of age or older with opportunities for supported psilocybin experiences to alleviate distress, provide preventative behavioral health care, and foster wellness and personal growth.
e. In establishing this act, the Legislature seeks to improve the physical, mental, and social well-being of all residents of New Jersey, and to prevent and reduce the prevalence of behavioral health disorders in adults, by providing for supported adult use of psilocybin under the supervision of trained and licensed psilocybin service facilitators.
f. The Legislature further seeks to develop a long-term Statewide strategic plan for ensuring that psilocybin services become and remain a safe, accessible, and affordable treatment option for people age 21 and older in New Jersey for whom behavioral health treatment and preventative behavioral health care using psilocybin is appropriate.
g. It is necessary and appropriate to develop a comprehensive regulatory scheme to ensure that psilocybin can be accessed in safe, controlled environments that are designed to foster improvements in behavioral health for adult patients, including establishing requirements for the licensure and regulation of psilocybin product manufacturers and psilocybin service providers, as well as requirements to restrict access to psilocybin to adults age 21 and older and to prevent the unlawful diversion of psilocybin in the State.
3. As used in this act:
18-month program development period means the period beginning on the effective date of this act and ending 18 months thereafter.
Administration session means a session at which a client consumes and experiences the effects of a psilocybin product under the supervision of a psilocybin service facilitator.
"Adverse employment action" means refusing to hire or employ an individual, barring or discharging an individual from employment, requiring an individual to retire from employment, or discriminating against an individual in compensation or in any terms, conditions, or privileges of employment.
Board means the Psilocybin Advisory Board established pursuant to section 4 of this act.
Client means an individual 21 years of age or older who is provided psilocybin services in this State.
Commissioner means the Commissioner of Health.
Department means the Department of Health.
Distressed area means an area that: is categorized as a distressed area by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development; or is a State legislative district in which 50 percent or more of the children in the district participate in the federal free lunch program or in which 20 percent or more of the households in the district receive assistance under the federal supplemental nutrition assistance program.
Integration session means the optional meeting between a client and a psilocybin service facilitator that may occur after the client completes an administration session.
Licensee means a person who holds a psilocybin product manufacturer license, a psilocybin service center operator license, a psilocybin testing laboratory license, or a psilocybin service facilitator license issued pursuant to this act.
Manufacture means the manufacture, planting, cultivation, growing, harvesting, production, preparation, propagation, compounding, conversion, or processing of a psilocybin product, either directly or indirectly, by extraction from substances of natural origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis, and includes any packaging or repackaging of the psilocybin product or labeling or relabeling of its container.
Preparation session means an in-person or remote meeting between a client and a psilocybin service facilitator that is required as a prerequisite to an administration session.
Psilocybin means psilocybin or psilocin.
Psilocybin product manufacturer means a person licensed to manufacture psilocybin products pursuant to this act.
Psilocybin product means psilocybin-producing fungi and mixtures or substances containing a detectable amount of psilocybin.
Psilocybin service center means an establishment at which administration sessions are held and other psilocybin services may be provided.
Psilocybin service center operator means a person licensed to operate a psilocybin service center pursuant to this act.
Psilocybin service facilitator means an individual licensed to facilitate the provision of psilocybin services pursuant to this act.
Psilocybin services means services prov