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Senate health committee advances bill to speed access to two experimental PTSD, depression drugs
Summary
The Health and Human Services Committee voted to pass House Bill 382, which would ensure lysergic acid and psilocybin can be reclassified for medical use in Georgia automatically if and when the FDA approves them; the bill also includes pharmacy supervision updates.
Representative Ron Stevens presented House Bill 382 to the committee, saying the measure began as a pharmacy bill but now includes provisions in sections 2 and 3 that would make lysergic acid (an LSD derivative) and psilocybin available for specific medical uses once the FDA approves them. "Lysergic acid and psilocybin are both class 1 drugs," Stevens said, adding Emory University research on PTSD informed the change and that the Board of Pharmacy has worked with authors "to make sure that once the FDA approves the drugs, they would then be available for use."
Committee members pressed the author on how the change would work in practice and on pharmacy staffing. A member asked whether a pharmacist would need to be physically present when technicians are working; Stevens replied, "You have to be physically present and overseeing those," and described a six-person supervision model that can include interns and externs.
After discussion, the committee took a motion to pass the bill. The chair called for a hand vote and declared the motion carried. The committee approved the measure to move forward to the next stage.
The bill would not change federal scheduling; Stevens said the change only ensures that, for these two drugs, state rules will automatically permit medical use once and if the FDA authorizes them. Supporters framed the bill as a way to speed access to promising treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder and treatment-resistant depression. Opponents on the committee focused their questions on safeguards, supervision, and the interaction between state and federal drug classification.
The committee action moves HB 382 to the next legislative step; additional floor debate and possible amendments could follow before final passage.
