CHICAGO (WGEM) – Illinois lawmakers are looking for new ways to help people struggling with behavioral health issues in the state. Tuesday, the state House Mental Health and Addiction Committee held a hearing in Chicago looking into psychedelics as a potential treatment tool.

“We are in the midst of a behavioral health crisis in this country and in this state. And that includes mental health, it includes addiction, it includes an urgent need for trauma support,” said state Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago, the committee’s chair.

This isn’t the first committee hearing. Lawmakers have already held subject matter hearings on the state’s behavioral health care shortage and how to spend opioid settlement dollars to increase access to care.

Tuesday, they discussed a less traditional form of care, psychedelic drugs. The specifically talked about psilocybin, which is also known as “magic mushrooms.”

“Psychedelic medicines work in a completely different manner than traditional meds. When we look at psychedelic medicines, they really have two prongs of how they approach. One is a psychological benefit, and one is a medical benefit,” said Dr. Abid Nazeer, a psychiatrist and Chief Medical Officer and Medical Director for Hopemark Health.

He said psilocybin allows people to look at their previous trauma or at themselves in a new light allowing them to potentially reframe their trauma and get to the root cause.

There are bills in both the state House and Senate to legalize psilocybin for medical purposes. Known as the Illinois Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens (CURE) Act, it would create a state-regulated psilocybin program allowing licensed facilitators to provide supervised therapy.

“Those with mental health issues deserve better. They deserve more than what they’ve been given, and they deserve hope. And we, as providers, researchers, government officials, policy makers, have a responsibility to our part in advancing new and promising treatment options for them,” said Dr. Jessica Punzo, a clinical psychologist.

The drug would remain illegal for recreational use.

Two states, Oregon and Colorado, have legalized psilocybin for supervised use.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration still classifies psilocybin as a Schedule I drug, which it defines as “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” The FDA, however, granted the drug “breakthrough therapy” status.

Copyright 2024 WGEM. All rights reserved.

Stephanie Mosqueda

Stephanie Mosqueda is a senior majoring in journalism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with minors in Spanish and public relations. She is the 217 Today producer and a reporter for the Illinois Student Newsroom.

AURORA, Ill. (CBS) — One person was rushed to the hospital Monday afternoon after opening mail in an Illinois state representative’s office in Aurora.

People were also evacuated from the building that houses the office as a precaution.

Aurora police said at 1:06 p.m., they were called along with the fire department to the office of Illinois state Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora) in the busy three-level office building at 1 E. Benton St. in downtown Aurora.

An employee had reported feeling sick shortly after opening the mail.

Emergency crews were not sure whether the mail actually made Rep. Hernandez’s staffer sick, or if it was something else. Nevertheless, many people were shaken.

“Police banging on everyone’s doors, saying, ‘We have to evacuate the building,’” said Danny Souri. “It was like a scene out of movie. It was pretty intense.”

Souri works in a different office space at 1 E. Benton St. But he said the urgency from emergency crews made it clear it was not a drill.

“We were told not to leave—can’t go back into the building,” he said.

Meanwhile, the employee from Hernandez’s office who got sick after opening the letter was taken to a hospital by ambulance.

“Another person I know was injured from it as well,” Souri said. “They went on their own.”

After clearing the building, investigators quickly worked to determine what the threat, if any, was from the letter.

“The landlord had to turn off all the HVAC in the building so there was no airflow anywhere so it doesn’t spread, and that’s how they made us aware of what it was,” said Souri.

Exactly what caused the scar remained unknown late Monday. Rep. Hernandez issued this statement:

“I want to thank all first responders for their hard work and support during today’s incident. It’s true my office received a letter, as we usually do. One of my team members opened the letter, causing them to feel ill after. Due to this we made the call to ask for assistance from APD where we then made sure everyone evacuated the building. My team member who came in contact with the letter is in good spirits as they wait for testing results.

“It is unfortunate we live in this type of environment where we have to worry about these incidents. However, I’m very proud and grateful for my team and the first responders for the quick action. I’m sorry to everyone who may have caused an inconvenience to the traffic.  I’ve seen some social media posts and I ask please don’t misinform others. Our office will be closed tomorrow to give my team time to recover.”

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Late Monday night, the employee was stable and awaiting test results.

Police have not said if they have any leads. But the whole building will remain closed Monday as a precaution.