Why Psilocybin Therapy Should Be Legal in Montana (Opinion)

Psilocybin, like any psychoactive drug, has the potential to be dangerous. While the results from fully legalizing it aren't totally predictable, legalizing it only in a therapeutic setting administered by a licensed professional is much safer. Oregon legalized psilocybin for treatment of certain mental-health conditions on January 1st of this year, and according to research from Johns Hopkins University, there's research that suggests it may be a valuable resource. While psychedelic therapy is already legal in Montana with the use of ketamine, the use of psilocybin in any setting is still against the law, though there may be benefits from allowing physicians to use psilocybin as another tool for the good of their patients. Here's why psilocybin therapy should be legal in Montana:

Treatment for Major Depression

Johns Hopkins University did a study which showed impressive results, "67% showed a more than 50% reduction in depression symptoms at the one-week follow-up and 71% at the four-week follow-up. Overall, four weeks post-treatment, 54% of participants were considered in remission – meaning they no longer qualified as being depressed."  Billings, Montana is the most depressed city in the nation according to the nursing education website CEUfast, which researched statistics provided by the CDC, here's an article about that for more. Because depression seems to be so prevalent here, it's particularly important for Montana to be concerned about this issue.

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Treatment for Alcoholism

Two doses of psilocybin "reduces heavy drinking by 83 percent on average among heavy drinkers when combined with psychotherapy" according to a study by NYU Langone. Considering Montana has the 6th-highest alcohol consumption per capita according to the data website World Population Review, this may be another particularly important issue for Montana as well.

Anxiety Relief for People with Life-Threatening Cancer

According to researchers from Johns Hopkins, people suffering from life-threatening cancer  "found considerable relief for up to six months from a single large dose of psilocybin." If Montanans in such a dire situation want to try a treatment option that's shown to be promising by such a prestigious source, I think the state of Montana shouldn't stop them.