Under new legislation, New Mexico is following the path of Oregon and Colorado in preparing to roll out a tightly regulated medical psilocybin program by late 2027. Proponents of psilocybin, the naturally occurring psychoactive ingredient in “magic mushrooms,” celebrated in April when Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the legislation allowing the program into law.

Some studies on psilocybin-aided treatment have been promising, they point out, and there is a new wave of interest in popular culture.

The practice of microdosing, or using very small amounts of a psychedelic for treatment, has hit the mainstream. News outlets recently reported Dr. Casey Means, President Donald Trump’s pick for surgeon general, suggested in a newsletter her use of magic mushrooms helped her find a romantic partner.

New Mexico’s Senate Bill 219, known as the Medical Psilocybin Act, establishes a regulated program for the medical use of psilocybin to treat qualified medical conditions such as major treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, substance use disorder and end-of-life care. It soared through both the House and Senate with wide bipartisan support.

The program, set to be fully launched by Dec. 31, 2027, calls for psilocybin to be administered to patients by a New Mexico-licensed health care provider in an approved clinical setting. 

Psychedelic healing is no novel concept for Indigenous communities in the Southwest, state Sen. Angel Charley, D-Acoma, noted earlier this year when she addressed colleagues about the bill on the Senate floor.

“This medicine is not groundbreaking,” she said. “It is only new to Western modalities of healing.”

Charley recognized legendary Oaxacan curandera María Sabina during her floor speech.

“And so I ask those voting today that we carry this knowledge forward,” she said. “This is something that our communities have offered people for hundreds of years.”

Oregon and Colorado established their medical psilocybin programs by way of ballot initiatives, so New Mexico became the first state in the U.S. to approve a program through legislation. According to the online network Psychedelic Alpha, legislation related to “psychedelic medicines” has been introduced in at least 15 states.

Still illegal under federal law, however, psilocybin is listed as a Schedule 1 drug — defined as a substance “with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

Advocates and lawmakers have pointed to the stiff guardrails New Mexico’s program would have to prevent abuse of the substance.

Sen. Craig Brandt, R- Rio Rancho, one of the sponsors of SB 19, said, “I think we put the guardrails in there the right way to where it’s not like the medical marijuana program. It’s a very limited application. So, there’s very few things that it can be used for.”

He noted patients could only receive psilocybin treatment in an approved clinical setting, without an option of taking the substance home. 

Psilocybin research has shown benefits for those struggling with PTSD, Brandt said, adding lawmakers heard testimony from veterans in committee hearings.

“I do think New Mexico has a chance to do this somewhat differently, with more integrity. I would put it that way,” said Janine Sagert, a retired psychologist in Santa Fe who has advocated for psilocybin since the 1970s. “I’m very hopeful about that.”

Those who have advocated for New Mexico’s medical psilocybin program are quick to point out treatments have nothing to do with hallucinating or getting high, and magic mushrooms are not legal for recreational use in the state.

Adele Getty — director of the nonprofit organizing The Enchanted State, a September conference on the psychedelic movement at the Lensic Performing Arts Center, believes this is a good idea. 

“Oregon did a massive [decriminalization]. That was not beneficial for Oregon; Portland in particular,” Getty said. “I think Colorado is doing a better job in terms of implementation. And Oregon has actually learned and, I would say, upgraded its whole system.”

Despite the popularity of SB 19, a handful of state lawmakers opposed the program.

“My opposition to [SB] 219 is strictly due to the very little we know about this drug,” Rep. Luis Terrazas, R-Santa Clara, wrote in a text message. “While I am always supportive of therapies to help alleviate symptoms of depression and PTSD, I was not comfortable with the information provided in the debate to support it.”

Still, Terrazas hopes the therapy will be safe for those who use it and that it “truly provides relief where traditional drugs have failed.” 

SB 19 calls for the establishment of the Medical Psilocybin Advisory Board, with nine members “knowledgeable about the medical use of psilocybin,” including at least one who is enrolled in a tribal nation, one veteran and one behavioral health advocate.

Applications will open soon for this panel, which will be tasked with recommending patient qualifications and assisting the state Department of Health in developing, monitoring and evaluating best practices for producers and clinicians. 

Aspects of the program will take shape over the next two years with input from stakeholders, said Dominick Zurlo, director of the Health Department’s Center for Medical Cannabis; the agency’s title will soon be expanded to include the word “psilocybin.”

“That’s what these next two years are about, about making sure that we are setting up the best requirements for those providers in the clinics,” Zurlo said. 

Brandt noted patients will spend a substantial amount of time with a clinician while treatment is administered. For proponents like Romero, this is an important aspect of the program. 

Before her first experience with the treatment in Jamaica, Romero worked with a coach to prepare. There also were people at her side to coach her through the treatment, she said.

The Health Department is now developing the process for implementing the program, including treatment protocols, safety guidelines, clinician and producer training requirements and data-collection methods to evaluate the program’s effectiveness.

State funding will be funneled toward the nascent program, starting with $1 million in fiscal year 2026 to add new employees to the Health Department, Zurlo said. 

The psilocybin law calls for a new Medical Psilocybin Treatment Fund to aid qualified low-income patients and a Medical Psilocybin Research Fund to support studies by universities and health care providers.

The University of New Mexico’s Health Sciences Center launched new psilocybin-related research last summer, including a study on RE104 — a novel compound related to psilocybin — for postpartum depression. 

The Health Department will be responsible for overseeing producers in New Mexico, as psilocybin administered by clinicians must be cultivated and produced within the state.

“We need to ensure it is actually grown and produced [here] so we are not putting anybody at risk on a federal level with crossing state lines,” Zurlo said.

A Legislative Finance Committee analysis found an estimated 1,748 New Mexicans might use the program each year, based on numbers of patients in Oregon, a state with a 5-year-old medical psilocybin program. 

“That’s going to depend a lot on how many clinics we end up permitting,” Zurlo said. “We’re really going to be evaluating that over the next two years to help determine how many can be served within those first several years.”

It is difficult to predict how many providers will become certified to participate, he said. Oregon, with a population about twice as large as New Mexico’s, had around 32 clinics permitted in its program’s first year, he noted. 

Romero, who was raised around the state in Taos, Las Vegas and Mora, is optimistic about the program. “It’s really going to bring some healing in the state,” she said. “If we can rebuild ourselves, we can rebuild our communities.”