(AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (KFGO/WCCO) – A state government task force says psychedelic mushrooms should be legalized in Minnesota. The Minnesota Psychedelic Medicine Task Force says specifically that psilocybin mushrooms can be effective in treating depression.
University of Minnesota psychiatry professor Jessica Nielson chaired the task force and says they have a specific plan of action. Nielson says other states have already decriminalized mushrooms successfully.
“In Oregon, they actually opened up their psilocybin service centers in the summer of 2023, and from what I’ve heard they’ve already treated around 7,000 people that are coming there to use them for a variety of reasons, whether it’s spiritual, therapeutic, or just the experience of it,” says Nielson. “Colorado is just now opening their doors.”
She says the task force encouraged lawmakers to put more state funding toward clinical research into mushrooms, MDMA and LSD. Right now most psychedelics are still illegal on a federal level.
The state task force found that psilocybin mushrooms may provide more benefits than psychotherapy and prescription medications, according to Nielson.
“What we’re advocating for is for the naturally derived psilocybin mushrooms because it doesn’t rely on a pharmaceutical company,” Nielson explains. “It doesn’t require FDA approval. They’re easy to grow. We just need to decriminalize them and or legalize and regulate them. And then people can choose to use them either for pleasure or for therapeutic purposes.”
The task force also recommends creating a state-regulated clinical program that uses mushrooms to treat specific conditions including depression.
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