Minnesota nears tightly controlled medical psilocybin program

The Minnesota House approved a tightly controlled medical program to run psilocybin clinical trials, moving the measure forward while the state Senate has not yet agreed to start the program. The Minnesota House approved the vote, but the bill still faces a Senate decision.

The bill would cap participation at about 1,000 patients in the first three years and generally require supervised dosing with medical professionals present, according to a report by FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul. It focuses on PTSD, major depression and substance use disorder and was pushed in part by testimony from Minnesota veterans who used psilocybin outside the medical system. Supporters say the program could seek up to $50 billion in newly available federal psychedelic research funding, a move that backers say could come at no direct cost to the state.

The episode traces back to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granting breakthrough therapy designations to psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression in 2018 and for major depressive disorder in 2019. Voters in Oregon and Colorado moved first on state legalization, with Oregon's Measure 109 passing in 2020 and Colorado's Proposition 122 in 2022, and New Mexico now allows psilocybin therapy as of 2026. Following Minnesota's legalization of recreational cannabis in May 2023, the Legislature created a Psychedelic Medicine Task Force that released a January 2025 report recommending a regulated therapeutic program. Federal support has shifted too; as of April 2026 an executive order required HHS to allocate $50 million to match state investments for psychedelic research.

Psilocybin remains a Schedule I drug under federal law, but Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he will open the door to psychedelic therapy this year. If the Senate approves the measure, Minnesota would join Oregon, Colorado and New Mexico in allowing regulated psilocybin therapy as of 2026.