'Magic Mushroom' bill vetoed, but human clinical testing to move forward

SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Although Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed Senate Bill 1570, which would have opened the door for psychedelic treatment and testing facilities in Arizona, Scottsdale Research Center found a silver lining.

“This is going to catapult Arizona to the forefront of the most important clinical studies on psilocybin mushrooms in the world,” Dr. Sue Sisley, principal investigator for Scottsdale Research Institute told ABC15. “I mean there’s nowhere else on this planet where people are utilizing natural psilocybin mushrooms to evaluate both the safety and the efficacy of the mushrooms in humans.”

While the bill is dead, meaning there won’t be psilocybin treatment and testing centers around the Valley, the millions in funding allocated for Scottsdale Research Institute and the University of Arizona to conduct their own clinical human trials with psilocybin mushrooms will remain available.

“Complex PTSD, and suffering from trauma, there’s the potential to help a lot of people,” Nicole Nichols, Scottsdale Research Institute Principal Investigator said. “I’m really proud of our state for taking this initiative and funding this research.”

Dr. Sisley said Scottsdale Research Institute still needs approval from the FDA, but she’s hoping to start human clinical trials in the fall.

Patients will attend sessions in groups of four, ingest the psilocybin through infused chocolates and be monitored and evaluated by staff.

“That same facilitator who took them through the prep and drug administration will also be working with them every week for months to ensure that all the things she learned in her experience can be integrated into her life in positive and meaningful ways so she can improve those things she addressed during the ceremony when she set those intentions,” Dr. Sisley said.

Scottsdale Research Institute also supplies the psilocybin mushrooms for the University of Arizona, which will be conducting its own human clinical trials.