New Hampshire legislators attempt to reduce the punishments around magic mushrooms

Yahoo

12-03-2025

The committee heard from constituents who described using small doses of psilocybin to deal with migraines. (Photo)
After briefly considering legalizing the drug entirely for people 21 and older, a bipartisan group of New Hampshire lawmakers are trying to lessen the legal penalties for psilocybin, the recreational, hallucinogenic, and psychedelic drug commonly known as 'magic mushrooms' or 'shrooms.'
The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted unanimously, 16-0, this month to recommend the entire House vote to approve House Bill 528, which is sponsored by Deerfield Republican Rep. Kevin Verville. The bill would reduce the penalty for people 21 and older to obtain, purchase, transport, possess, or use psilocybin in New Hampshire from a felony to a simple violation with a small fine and no jail time.
Psilocybin is currently outlawed in New Hampshire under the Controlled Drug Act.
Originally the bill called for psilocybin to be legalized entirely for people 21 and older, but the committee ultimately amended the bill to simply lessen the punishment.
In a hearing last month ahead of the March 7 vote, Verville argued psilocybin was different from more dangerous drugs like narcotics, amphetamines, and opioids. He described the bill as 'harm reduction' as it prevents people from suffering long-term consequences of felony convictions for something he doesn't believe is truly harmful. He argued the drug is readily available on the black market anyway. He also said that because the drug is still illegal federally, it wouldn't be openly mass produced.
'I dream of a day when we have medical psychedelics available,' Verville said. 'I dream of that day. There are demonstrated medical benefits with depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome, (and) interestingly enough, addiction.'
The committee heard from constituents who described using small doses of psilocybin to deal with migraines, and members appeared to find this testimony compelling.
'Not only is this not really a dangerous drug, but it also has medicinal benefits that people are unable to take advantage of currently because of its classification under the Controlled Drug Act,' Rep. Alissandra Murray, a Manchester Democrat, said Friday. 'While entirely removing it might be too big a step for this Legislature to take right now, I think this is a good compromise to start with.'
Rep. David Meuse, a Portsmouth Democrat, said psilocybin is 'increasingly analogous to what we saw with cannabis a decade ago.'
Cannabis, which was once an illegal drug in all 50 U.S. states, is now legal for medicinal purposes in 39 states and for recreational use in 24. It is still illegal for recreational use in New Hampshire, though it is decriminalized and legal for medicinal purposes. Verville is also behind another bill, House Bill 75, seeking to legalize recreational cannabis; that bill passed through the state House in February.
'It's time to break the log jam, and I hope we pass this,' Meuse said of the psilocybin bill.
A few of the bill's supporters were torn though.
Rep. Jennifer Rhodes, a Winchester Republican, said she supported the bill because she has 'tremendous respect for' Verville, the sponsor, and because he 'is the one person I don't want to go up on the House floor against.' However, she said she doesn't believe psilocybin should be considered medicine as some had suggested.
'If we're doing this because we're trying to take away the penalty, that's one thing, but doing it because we're trying to say we're making it be medicine, that's the part I'm not OK with,' she said prior to voting in favor.
Psilocybin was illegal in all 50 U.S. states in 2019. However, Oregon legalized the drug — which had recently been decriminalized in a handful of cities including Denver, Colorado, and Santa Cruz, California — in 2020. Colorado followed suit and legalized it in 2022. Currently, it is illegal in the remaining 48 states.