PSA's Sunday Sound-Off: January 25th, 2026

Responsible Entheogen Access & Community Healing Coalition (REACH) Washington supports a diverse and inclusive ecosystem of psychedelic access. Thoughtfully designed regulatory pathways can play a role in strengthening that ecosystem, but only when they are paired with clear and enforceable protections for personal and community-based use.

Our organization supports psychedelic regulatory legislation only when protections for personal and community-based use are enacted first or concurrently. While regulated models may expand options for some, current therapeutic models often cost $1,000 or more per session, placing access to care out of reach for many Washingtonians.

Regulation without decriminalization risks creating an inequitable system—one that elevates clinical access as the only “safe” or “legitimate” form of healing while continuing to criminalize individuals who engage with psychedelics outside of licensed settings. Psilocybin mushrooms can be cultivated at home for a fraction of the cost of regulated services, and no Washingtonian should face criminal penalties for personal psychedelic use.

We will not support any regulatory framework that allows individuals to be arrested, prosecuted, or incarcerated for personal psychedelic use. Any durable and just policy approach must protect personal autonomy, community practices, and equitable access alongside regulated options.

Any psychedelic policy framework must, at a minimum, include basic protections for personal and community use. This includes the removal of criminal penalties for the personal cultivation, possession, gifting, and community-based use of natural psychedelics, excluding peyote.

The framework should also authorize reasonable remuneration for services that occur outside of regulated or licensed models, ensuring community-based and non-clinical practices are not criminalized. It should also provide for the dismissal and expungement of past charges or convictions related to natural psychedelics.

Finally, the policy must include baseline civil protections for individuals engaging in the personal use of natural psychedelics, consistent with the protections outlined in the Washington Natural Psychedelics Safe Access Act. 

We generally support regulatory approaches to psychedelic access when they are paired with clear protections for personal and community-based use. With that principle in mind, our support for SB 5921 and SB 5201 / HB 1433 is contingent on several key changes.

In an ideal outcome, lawmakers and stakeholders would work collaboratively to advance legislation that integrates the strongest elements of SB 5921, SB 5201 / HB 1433, and the REACH WA proposal. We believe these measures would be significantly strengthened if combined, as each contributes important benefits to a healthy and equitable psychedelic ecosystem—provided that foundational personal and community use protections are included.

Below, we outline the strengths and shortcomings of each bill, along with the specific changes necessary for us to support their passage.

The proposal establishes a supported treatment pathway for individuals with more complex needs, creating a structured option for care. It requires both preparation and integration sessions, which supports safer use and continuity of support. The framework includes an outpatient microdosing option and may allow for insurance coverage under certain circumstances. It also has the potential to contribute to clinical research and improved data collection.

The proposal restricts access by requiring a qualifying diagnosis, reinforcing a narrow medical model that treats psychedelic use primarily as a clinical intervention to fix individuals. This approach excludes pathways focused on well-being, personal growth, cultural practice, and broader community or systemic healing. It also disregards longstanding cultural and community traditions by continuing to criminalize personal and community use while asserting exclusive regulatory authority over medicines stewarded by communities for generations.

In addition, the proposal imposes extensive regulatory requirements—including auditing, testing, training, record-keeping, and oversight—that are likely to be costly and inaccessible to most individuals and communities. These requirements may incentivize the development of high-volume psilocybin “mills,” increasing practitioner caseloads and liability risks, similar to patterns observed in prior medical cannabis programs. The framework applies pharmaceutical-grade testing and production standards designed for single-molecule synthetic substances, which are poorly suited to the natural variability of plant- and fungi-based medicines. As a result, participation may become cost-prohibitive, effectively limiting licensure to large, profit-driven entities while excluding small-scale and community-based models.

The proposal also includes data collection practices that raise privacy and risk concerns by failing to require adequate electronic protections for personal health information. Additionally, it authorizes interstate testing despite federal prohibitions on the interstate transport of federally controlled substances, creating significant legal and operational constraints. Finally, the proposal relies on the Department of Health to regulate natural psychedelics despite limited institutional experience in this area, particularly given that other natural substances, such as cannabis, are regulated by different state agencies in Washington.

To earn our support, the legislation must be amended to establish baseline protections for personal and community-based use of natural psychedelics, ensuring that access is not limited solely to a narrow clinical framework. Liability protections should be expanded for clinicians and facilitators operating within the regulated model to reduce risk and encourage responsible participation.

The bill should also require comprehensive cultural competency training as a condition of licensure or participation, recognizing the longstanding cultural and community contexts of these medicines. Product testing requirements should be reduced to lower costs and improve affordability and access, while statutory protections should be extended to include locally adopted resolutions, in addition to ordinances, that decriminalize or deprioritize law enforcement related to natural psychedelics. Finally, the framework should allow for synthetic forms of psilocybin to better align with a medical approach.  

Combining the revised proposal with both a REACH WA bill track and a parallel pathway similar to SB 5201 and HB 1433 would ensure balanced access, public health protections, and community inclusion.

This proposal improves upon Oregon’s facilitated adult-use program by establishing a more flexible, middle-ground regulatory approach. It appropriately designates the Liquor and Cannabis Board as the regulatory authority, which has relevant experience overseeing natural products, and provides an option for individuals who prefer a regulated setting but do not have a qualifying condition or wish to engage with a medicalized system. The framework establishes accountability mechanisms and clear reporting pathways, supports the advancement of research, and strengthens practicum and training requirements for facilitators while including cultural competency training and waiving training requirements for qualified legacy practitioners.

The proposal also incorporates important access and affordability considerations. It allows facilitation sessions to occur in homes, existing offices, or outdoor settings without requiring dedicated centers; it permits manufacturing and administration to potentially occur in the same location to reduce costs, and seeks to keep testing requirements affordable while maintaining safety. It includes both natural and synthetic forms of psilocybin, allows for the future inclusion of MDMA, ibogaine, and other psychedelics, and supports insurance coverage for preparation and integration services. Additionally, it better protects participant data, establishes a patient bill of rights, includes limited civil protections related to employment, parenting, caregiving, and professional licensure, and prevents local jurisdictions from blocking implementation entirely while still allowing reasonable local regulation. While the proposal acknowledges the importance of equity, it does not yet fully address how equitable access will be achieved.

The proposal raises several concerns related to access, autonomy, and implementation. It does not adequately empower individuals to make informed choices about how they engage with psychedelics and instead establishes a system that is costly, exclusionary, and out of reach for many Washingtonians. The framework fails to recognize or exempt traditional, cultural, and community-based practices involving natural medicines and overrides existing local protections that reflect community priorities.

In addition, the proposal introduces enforcement provisions that raise significant concerns. It requires law enforcement officers who have notice or reasonable suspicion of a violation to immediately notify the prosecuting attorney and provide identifying information and related details, creating pathways for criminal enforcement rather than harm reduction. It also restricts, suspends, or denies renewal of facilitator licenses when licensed facilitators engage with natural medicines sourced through unlicensed or community-based channels, effectively prohibiting engagement outside the regulated system. The proposal further designates specific universities and government departments for participation rather than establishing a transparent and open process through which all qualified entities could apply. Finally, it does not require trauma-informed training, despite the vulnerability of many participants and the importance of minimizing harm.

REACH WA Suggested Revisions–Changes Required for Support:

REACH’s support for this proposal is contingent on several targeted revisions. The bill must be amended to include baseline protections for personal and community-based use of natural psychedelics in order to address the identified equity gaps. Enforcement-focused provisions—specifically Sections 37 and 75, as well as Sections 45 and 82—should be removed to prevent unnecessary criminalization and punitive regulatory outcomes. The proposal should also explicitly protect and strengthen locally adopted resolutions and ordinances that decriminalize or deprioritize law enforcement related to natural psychedelics.

In addition, the framework should require meaningful trauma-informed training, include reasonable advertising restrictions to guard against excessive commercialization and commodification, and be integrated with the REACH WA bill alongside a parallel clinical track similar to SB 5921. Taken together, these changes would help ensure a more balanced policy approach that supports a diverse range of individuals, use contexts, and community needs.

1️⃣ Outpatient Psychiatry Physician, Interventional Psychiatry - University of Minnesota Physicians

📍 St. Louis Park, MN

The University of Minnesota is seeking an outpatient psychiatrist to provide care for treatment-resistant depression using interventional modalities including TMS, ECT, VNS, ketamine, and psychedelics, with opportunities for teaching, supervision, and research within a nationally recognized academic psychiatry program.

2️⃣ Program Manager, Accelerator - Pink Elephant

🌍 Remote

Pink Elephant is hiring a Program Manager to launch and run its psychedelic-focused accelerator, overseeing cohort operations, founder support, mentor coordination, and Demo Day execution for early-stage ventures advancing safe, progressive mental health care.

3️⃣ Clinical Research Assistant - University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

📍 Philadelphia, PA

The University of Pennsylvania is hiring a Clinical Research Assistant to support psilocybin research within the Center for Studies of Addiction, including participant recruitment, screening, clinical data collection, imaging support, and research data management under leading psychiatric investigators.

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Until next time,

The Psychedelic State(s) of America Team