Journalist: Colin Udall (OSU)
Senate Bill TU-004, proposed by Senator Harcrow (TU), seeks to reschedule psilocybin and
psilocin from schedule one to schedule three substances, respectively. The bill passed in the
Senate with a vote of 15-8.
Psilocybin refers to the psychedelic compound found in the colloquially named “magic
mushrooms.” The scheduling system is a legal system that seeks to rank controlled substances on
a scale of one to five, with one being of least medical value and highest potential for abuse, while
five is determined to be of most medical value and least potential for abuse. The federal system
was created in 1970 by the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Many states have followed suit
with their own scheduling systems, such as Oklahoma. If a state’s schedule is in opposition to the
federal scheduling, it could pose a problem regarding the supremacy clause. Psilocybin,
importantly, is a schedule one drug at the federal level.
When asked about the bill not reflecting the federal scheduling, Sen. Harcrow (TU) stated, “That
is the big debate that has been going on for decades.” The senator said further, “With such things
as marijuana, in states like Colorado, when they rescheduled it against federal standards, it has
kind of become more of a states’ rights issue specifically.”
Sen. Harcrow (TU) also spoke on his intentions for this bill. The senator stated, “Mental health,
right now, is a big issue in all of politics and across the nation. Oklahoma has statistically fallen
behind in mental health treatment. The best way to combat that is to bring new technologies and new ideas to the state. With psilocybin and psilocin, they are at the forefront of mental health
treatment.”
An opponent of the bill, Senator Hayes (OSU), spoke on their opposition: “When we look at our
scheduling of drugs … medicinal marijuana is still a schedule one narcotic.” Further, they stated,
“The issue with this is, ketamine [a schedule two drug] is already a drug that is served and used
regularly.” They also stated that more research is already in the works on a federal level. Finally,
they said they might have had less issue with the bill had it been a reschedule from one to two
rather than one to three, which they view as too large of a distance.