Meeting Public Comments

Maya Carneiro []

Support HF 459 It is known that herbs and mushrooms hold healing properties. Terminally ill patients should be eligible for alternative treatments as a right to try. Psilocybin has also been shown to drastically heal severe depression with a single dose. Severe depression affects more than 17 million Americans. This bill provides treatment for an unmet medical need. I urge you to pass this legislation.

Adrianne Erickson []

There has been great harm done by controlling psylocibin. The reasons for making psylocibin illegal in the first place are outdated, flawed, and inaccurate. We need to evolve in a positive direction with support of the ample knowledge presented about the benefits of psilocybin. Please do something good for our community and allow us access. It is the logical, sciencebased approach to take based on the truth and history behind psylocibin. This comes from a concerned citizen who has researched psilocybin for over a decade, including its vibrant world wide history, effects, cultural impacts, and positive influence towards human ingenuity. The pros astronomically outnumber any single cons that anyone may come up with.

Tim F. []

Schedule 1 is for substances with "high potential for abuse". Psychedelics are too powerful to abuse. They are more likely to abuse the user (in a positive way).

Brent Russell []

Stephen Ross, MD Senior Director, Division of Substance Abuse, Bellevue Hospital Director and Professor at NYU conducted clinical trials with cancer patients and concluded that psilocybin could be used to treat patients with depression. CBT or cognitive behavior therapy has been used to help PTSD patients. This involves patients talking through and processing their traumatic experiences. Matthew Johnson, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University says instead of 8 to 15 CBT sessions (the suggested course of therapy for CBT), CBT with psychedelics requires only two to three sessions. Johnson notes that it is hard speaking about traumatic experiences such as war, sexual abuse, domestic violence etc. Because of this and in conjunction with the time and costs associated with 815 sessions of CBT, PTSD patients often do not complete treatment. When PTSD patients are left untreated or under treated, many turn to alcohol and drug abuse to cope. Others turn to suicide.There is a lot of evidence that shows psilocybin to be an effective medication treating addiction. In a study published from John Hopkins University, 12 of 15 longtime smokers were able to quit with the help of the psilocybin. In 2008 to 2013 44,000 illicit opioid users were analyzed to find a 40% reduction in illicit opioid abuse. Prescription opioid drugs law makers have said is ok to use kill roughly 17,000 people annually. However, they can not get psilocybin treatment. 75% of patients quit rehab for prescribed opioids and up to 90% relapse! What do we have to loose with psilocybin which has been shown to work? It baffles me that this has not already been done.There are no recorded cases of addition or death from psilocybin. Schedule 1: A substance that has a high potential for abuse and has no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or lacks accepted safety for use in treatment under medical supervision. Psilocybin does not fit in as a schedule 1 substance. As noted above, doctors have shown this. People in Iowa demand the removal of psilocybin as a Schedule 1 substance. You were elected to represent the people of Iowa not to wait for someone else to do it. We are watching your vote!

Carl Olsen []

Have our federal legislators introduce a corresponding bill in Congress removing these substances from the federal controlled substances act. There is no reason federal law should be be amended if the state law does not agree these substances should be controlled. States like Iowa have adopted the Uniform Controlled Substances Act which was created to tie state and federal drug law together. It makes no sense to say nothing about federal drug law in this bill.

Will Van Leer []

I support this Bill and the concept of freedom of choice. Good job Representative Shipley.

Todd Mulford []

Makes no sense to prohibit safe and effective, beneficial, whole plant, organic, naturally occurring medicine with countless positive effects and then allow alcohol and cigarettes to be legal. Psilocybin is less toxic than pineapple juice and safer then pillow fighting.No one has ever overdosed on mushrooms. It's not even possible. It's safe and effective and very beneficial. Made by God Almighty, creator of all living things.Nature has the cure for everything if the government would just get out of the way and let us heal ourselves.Don't panic, it's organic!!Passing HF459 makes sense regardless of Federal prohibition because we can not wait for the corporately controlled Federal government and let countless people continue to suffer. Psilocybin very effectively treats addiction, depression, anxiety, obesity.There is no sound reason to wait for this to take place at the Federal level. We can take action now and alleviate human suffering on a massive scale without extremely low risk of any harm. Passing this bill moves us in the right direction. When many cities and states start passing decriminalization laws at a local level it begins to put pressure on the Federal government legalize. Doing nothing puts no pressure on the Federal government to make policy changes.Towards the end of slavery the people would NOT obey slavery laws because they knew it was soooooo wrong. And that kind of morally justified civil disobedience put pressure on law makers to make policy changes that ended slavery. When several states make laws contrary to Federal laws it sends a very loud message to Federal policy makers that policy needs to be changed. Support HF459 and bless Iowa and that will put pressure on Federal policy makers to make much needed changes to psilocybin policy.

Jaquelyn Cook []

Keeping these as a schedule 1 prevents American research for potential medical treatments. Other countries have and are researching the many medicinal purposes of natural 'psychedelics'. Some studies have shown great promise for treatment of mental health disorders such as: ptsd, depression, anxiety, and even addiction. I believe removing these from schedule 1 would be beneficial for many reasons, but most importantly furthering the ability of our medical community to do necessary research in treatments for the rising mental health crisis.

Jamie Cook []

The classic psychedelics have great potential for many medical treatments. Yes some of them are very powerful however many years of scientific and medical research has been lost do to fear.Psilocybin in particular has shown great potential with no fatalities and no addiction, for many ailments.Including alzhimer's , addiction ranging from nicotine to herion, p.t.s.d,cognitive recall, and even regrowth or receptors lost from traumatic brain injuries. Some of these can be effectively treated in what is know as Mico doses. It's genetic makeup is related to the same hormones produce by the pituitary gland that all animal and human life has.It has also been studied to boost brain function abroad as a brain scan of patients that have taken a Mico dose show 200 times the brain connectivity then that of those who were not dosed.How many years of valuable research have we lost, from the prohibitions of cannabis, and psilocybin and other safe life saving nature. labeling them schedule one.When we know for a fact opiates and amphetamines are highly addictive and even if not abused are destructive to organs and are infact deadly.Yet we use them under medical care, pushing them to our sick, injured, tormented and children. Yes children a.d.h.d or a.d.d medication little none to many parents is simply meth! Families tested to thier limits feeling theres no where else to go or do and thoughs are the treatments insurance will cover and we wonder why we are facing a very REAL pandemic with both of these drugs. We were given everything we need in this world. The FDA or state governing body should have no right to say something is wrong simply because it's not additive and to inexpensive for large profit margins.

Christina Crew []

Support this bill. (see attached document for sources)Psilocybin has many potential mental health benefits. Research shows that it reduces criminality and helps break addiction. For example, it has been shown to be 67% effective in breaking tobacco addiction and its effective with alcohol addiction as well. It helps overcome mental illnesses like anxiety (by 6080%), major depression by at least 54%, PTSD, and OCD. It has the ability to enhance clinical psychotherapy treatment in general. Psilocybin increases neurogenesis, which is the growth of new brain cells (neurons). Because of its neurogenic effects, it has the potential for helping someone with Alzheimer's, dementia, brain injury, Autism, and more. Evidence also suggests that it may also help treat cluster headaches.There may also be some clinical benefits to microdosing psilocybin. Microdosing is where an individual purposely ingests a level low enough that no hallucinogenic effects are perceived, yet the person may still achieve some clinical benefits. In addition to it's mental health benefits, decriminalizing psilocybin in Iowa would allow for small business growth, with providers offering guided psilocybin therapy drawing patients from within Iowa and from other states. A company in Europe that utilizes psilocybin to treat went public at the end of 2020 with a $545 million valuation. In fact, the therapeutic psychedelic market is projected to reach $6.85 billion by 2027. The antiquated 50 yearold psilocybin federal misscheduling needs changed. It's been shown over and over, throughout each study that has occurred, that it isn't addictive. In fact, researchers from John Hopkins University recommend it be rescheduled down to at least Schedule IV due to low potential for abuse and dependence. Psilocybin was even granted "breakthrough therapy" status in 2018 and again in 2019 by the FDA because it showed so much therapeutic potential.Mental unwellness is costly to our society. Suicide is now the 10th leading cause of death in the United States (CDC) having increased by 35% in the past 20 years. Depression affects 2025% of Americans (CDC), with only half receiving treatment (NAMI), and costing over $200 billion annually. Anxiety disorders affect 18.1% of Americans, costing $48 billion. PTSD affects 5% of Americans and costs $46 billion annually. Addiction is widespread and costly as well. 2226% of Americans are alcoholics, contributing to over 18% of ER visits. Alcohol is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, costing $2.5 billion annually. 50 million Americans are addicted to tobacco, killing a half million each year and costing $193 billion annually. Tobacco use is a major cause of heart disease, which is the number one cause of death in the US. Tobacco causes 33% of cancer deaths, costing about $3 billion annually.1 in 3 seniors seniors die with Alzheimer's or another dementia and it kills more than breast and prostate cancer combined, costing $355 billion annually. 2.8 million Americans sustain a brain injury each year. The rate of Autism is increasing and now affects 1 in 54 soontobe adult Americans. In light of these things, no valid moral argument exists to justify keeping someone from access to the option of psilocybin. Iowa needs to be a leader in mental health and psilocybin.

Carl Olsen []

While I appreciate Representative Shipley's efforts to get a conversation started, this bill falls far short of the mark. First, this is not just a state issue. What is needed are both state and federal constitutional amendments protecting the right to keep and grow plants. The founders would never have imagined the government would outlaw plants and put people in prison for keeping and growing them. No wonder the political climate is so hot these days.

Ron Pile []

I fully support the deregulation of psilocybin and psilocyn. Classifying these substances as schedule 1 controlled substances makes no sense in light of the legality of much more dangerous substances like alcohol and tobacco.