Psychedelic task force intent is to ‘prepare Alaska’ for legalization of ‘molly’ for mental health

By
Suzanne Downing
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52
1787
Sethan Tigarian, staff member, and Sen. Forrest Dunbar testify about the psychedelic task force.

The sponsor of a bill to create a task force to regulate psychedelics in mental health told the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee on Friday the task force will cost nothing. Senate Bill 166’s goal, however, is the same: Prepare Alaska for use of psychedelics in treating some mental illnesses like post traumatic stress disorder.

Sen. Forrest Dunbar, who is pushing the use of some psychedelics for mental health treatment, is a member of the committee, and presented the bill to the only two other members who were present on Friday: Sen. Jesse Bjorkman and Sen. Click Bishop. Both Sens. Kelly Merrick and Elvi Gray-Jackson were no-shows.

“Working with the sponsor in the House and the Department, we have change some of the nature of the task force. Now the overriding purpose of the task force is still exactly the same — we are preparing Alaska, hopefully, for what we see as the very likely legalization in the medical context of certain of these substances,” Dunbar said.

The changes that the committee substitute bill now has include dropping the fiscal note (cost of the bill) because instead of being a task force staffed by the Department of Commerce, it would be a legislative task force staffed by those working in the sponsors’ offices. The language also clarifies that the task force is not there to advocate for legalization but to create a regulatory framework in anticipation of federal legalization of some substances.

Also, there is no longer a requirement that one of the members of the task for be an herbalist. Instead, a seat was added for a registered nurse. The task force will get no per diem or travel.

The Task Force will still consist of a “diverse group of experts and stakeholders” tasked with exploring the integration of psychedelic-assisted therapies into Alaska’s healthcare system, according to the bill. It will meet at least four times, submit a report of recommendations to the legislature and the governor by Dec. 31, and terminate at the convening of the 34th Legislature.

“Research shows the effectiveness of psychedelic-assisted therapies in treating PTSD, depression, anxiety, and substance-use disorders, conditions highly prevalent among veterans. What barriers exist in implementing such therapies in Alaska? What regulations are needed for practitioners to ensure safe integration of psychedelic medicine? These are some of the questions the task force will explore,” Dunbar said in his sponsor statement for the bill.

He said the Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing the drug known as “ecstasy,” also known as MDMA or “Molly” for treatment of post traumatic stress disorder, “with approval expected by the end of this year.”

But, in fact, the FDA has been asked to review MDMA, or midomafetamine (the active ingredient in street drugs like ecstasy and Molly) for post traumatic stress disorder. The request was made by a pharmaceutical company, Lykos, which has been studying the use of the drug in therapy. The FDA is in a 60-day review period, in which it will decide if the drug will be fast-tracked through the approval process.

If approved, it would reschedule MDMA from Schedule I drug. Schedule I drugs have no accepted medical use and are known to have a high potential for abuse. 

The FDA recently accepted a new drug application for midomafetamine (“Molly”) capsules to be used in combination with psychological interventions, including psychotherapy for PTSD. The FDA also granted priority review to the new drug application with a target action date of Aug. 11.

The bill moved from Labor and Commerce Committee to the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Matt Claman, one of Dunbar’s fellow Anchorage Democrats.

52 COMMENTS

  1. Why in the heck would we want to legalize something that is helping so many veterans with PTSD. I say the hell this nonsense, give them guns and let them exercise their 2nd amendment rights however they see fit.

    • Why in the heck would we saddle our already traumatized veterans with more hallucination, paranoia, nightmares, time distortion and potential dependency? The data on actual efficacy is still being researched, unless you think AK vets SHOULD BE the experimental group??
      I also wonder why the switch of focus from LSD to Ecstasy in this committee?

  2. Sen Dunbar always looks like he’s stoned. The longer he stays in the political sphere the more he looks tired and stoned. I think he taking a drug. Can a drug test be done on a legislator. Maybe this legislation he co sponsoring is for himself when it’s time for his mental health treatment to do drug legally.

  4. They used to experiment with psychedelics on soldiers without telling them, and caused all kinds of problems. Now they’re bold enough to do it publicly. Fooling people about the dangerous effects just like they did with marijuana.

  5. Ah, no.

    This is a Communist tactic. The goal is to be able to use psychedelic drugs on those who dissent.

    Mark my words.

  8. So disappointing to have a lawyer without medical, pharmaceutical/pharmacological nor medico-ethical therapeutic treatment training behind this promotion with expectation that it will happen any day, now, citing research in . One fellow says “Research shows the effectiveness of psychedelic-assisted therapies in treating PTSD, depression, anxiety, and substance-use disorders, conditions highly prevalent among veterans” and uses words like ‘psychedelic’ and also ‘psychedelic-assisted’ in the context of ‘veterans’ and ‘PTSD’ as if that makes it all good and valid, as reason for FDA approval and we should all be jumping on the bandwagon. Be the approval process what it may be, FDA regulations require adequate randomized placebo-controlled trials showing 1. efficacy, 2. safety both in the short-term and long-term (drug interactions, side-effects, carcinogenic/teratogenic implications, information about who and under which conditions it will benefit, its indications and how it will be prescribed, and 3. appropriate doses, preferably with research studies conducted in men, women, children, and the unborn.

    • It doesn’t really matter if they approve it, it still has to be approved by the VA. The state can approve it, but if the VA which IS a federal operated, Veterans will probably not be able to use it, UNLESS under special situations. and definitely under controlled allowances.

    • “3. appropriate doses, preferably with research studies conducted in men, women, children, and the unborn.”
      Huh? For once I actually agreed with you to some extent Mrs. N until you mentioned research studies for appropriate dosing for the unborn. Did you mean assessment of impact to fetal development(as in Thalidomide)? I am not aware of a fetus sitting for a psych eval to talk about their future traumatic experiences….
      BTW thank you for acknowledging that a fetus is a person!

      • There’s not much data with regard to pregnancy outcomes. (Just what we need– more zombification, and who says only the female effects teratogenicity?) This very idea of using psychedelics would have to be identified as a specific drug entity before quantification of any dosages.

        (You’d probably realize we have a few opinions in common over a hot cup of coffee and poppyseed kolache.)

        • Again Mrs. N I agree with you regarding the lack of data and the need for specificity of compound used, as well as the vastly unknown effects on reproductive cells and gestation.
          BTW I am always fond of a good poppy seed kolache

  13. Talk about opening up the door for mind control! It is coming. Just like down in the states, the demons will take control of these patients’ minds and have them killing people and destroying property all under the guise of their mental disabilities.

  14. After all, this mindset worked so well in Oregon…

    We’ll all sleep better knowing the group Dunbar wants will be “diverse” instead of knowledgeable.

    The left is a suicide cult.

  16. Senate version of this is SB 166.

    ‘https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/33?Root=SB%20166

    House version is HB 228.

    ‘https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/33?Hsid=HB0228A

    No specific drugs are mentioned. Removing the fiscal note is troubling, as it was the same technique used by the Senate to pass their defined benefit pension gift to the public employee unions earlier in the session.

    One thing you do to make sure nothing ever happens is shove into a committee, which this task force is. Worse, the task force is operated out of the legislative offices.

    There is some positive information out there on the use of magic mushrooms. Good news is that you only have to use them a single time. Bad news is the FDA and Big Pharma knows that and are busily trying to figure out how to turn it into a cash cow. Barring that, they want to make it illegal.

    Only negative story I’ve come across was the AK Airlines jump seat pilot who went nutso in the cockpit. He ended up being on a lot of other stuff at the same time, so take the magic mushrooms claim with a grain or two of salt.

    I wonder if the use of psychedelics here in AK is already legal under the same AK Supreme Court ruling that legalized pot half a century ago.

    Given who is involved in this, I fully expect them to screw it up / use it as another lever to control the general public. Cheers –

    • Treatment resistant depression makes life hell for a vast swath of Americans and Alaskans. If anything, I repeat anything, gives relief and recovery to someone, then it’s a miracle. Those who express thoughtless hate about the means are utterly worthless. Just look at the nutcases posting here. It’s none of your business, take your superior morals and go feel happy about your own life and mind your own business. If you can’t do that, well then good luck finding treatment for your depression.

      • If gang rape of children gives relief, or the slaughter of native peoples, you OK with that?

        You said anything, after all.

      • Jason, if you believe that this will be the panacea for mental health issues, you are entitled to your opinion. We are all looking for appropriate treatment here. The overarching focus of any medical treatment is always “First do no harm”. Those who voice concerns are not hateful, but careful. There is nothing gained if the medication afflicts you with devastating side effects.
        Since this is a government entity debating the legalization of these products without apparent actual medical input, it is ALL our concern, as any behavior altering drug has an impact on society at large. So ,no, we will not mind our own business. Thank you very much.

      • Jason, vitamin D for starters to treat depression. A good alternative medicine doctor and not these quack mainstream doctors would treat the whole patient mentally, physically, and emotionally instead of just treating the symptoms. Many people in Alaska have, or do suffer from depression due to lack of vitamin D. Sometimes people have to let go of the government teat and go find a good doctor to get the correct help.

    • I will go far as to predict that psilocybin will enter into the discussion before the Legislature is through with this legislation. It is fairly simple amendment to draft. The arguments would be essentially identical to those being made for MDMA. Thirty-five years ago, many of the same arguments and harmless-sounding words were being used for marijuana: “Harmless”, “only for adults”, “in small doses”, “potential medical uses”. Now we are on the cusp of the industrial production of extra-ordinarily strong cannabis in multiple forms with little practical control. Based on my decades of observation, few things have been more damaging to society than “normalization” of cannabis use. The notion that this could have ever been limited to adults is insulting.

      As for the use of psilocybin, if cannabis is any guide, the path from clinically controlled use to widespread abuse is stunningly short, direct and ugly. It is likely that a positive-flavored story on psilocybin is repeated a billion times on the Internet while the negative studies and experiences are ignored. The media loves this stuff. They want to report on the fashionable and exciting and could care less about productive and sane society.

      Since Suzanne and I both do not like name-calling, I will not say what I think about Senator Dunbar. No surprise that it is not good.

  17. What the H**L, Jesse Bjorkman? Don’t you have enough real work to be doing? Who, exactly, do you think you’re representing?

  19. This bill getting traction is a direct result of marginalizing conservatives in the Senate, and empowering former Anchorage Assemblyman Dunbar and his liberal buddies as a committee chairs.

    Might as well “Oregonize” Alaska and have drug zombies roaming downtown Anchorage like they do in Portland. Oh wait, with Forrest’s friends running Anchorage, it’s already happening. The voters get what they vote for!

  20. Tyrants and dictators will always do two things.
    They will encourage every form of physical pleasure (sexual, drug, and entertainment), and they will disarm the population.
    The first is a way for the government to control the population, the second is a way for the population to control the government.
    .
    Tell me how this leftist movement sweeping across the world is any different?

  21. If there is realistic evidence it may help some people, then it’s worth exploring.

    But remember how opioids, oxy in particular turned out. The road to hell is paved with this kind of thing.

    • There is realistic expectations that this can and does help those who have found no help with pharmaceuticals and other standard treatments. Midomafetamine has been around since the early 1900’s and has been used as a therapeutic before it was misused and turned into a recreational drug and subsequently banned because only certain recreational drugs are deemed ok by big government. Psychedelics have been used for as long as man has walked the earth, some say that psychedelics might be why man walks the earth…it’s called the psychedelic ape theory.

      Oxycontin and other opioids are nothing like psychedelics.

  22. Total idiots, there’s allready countless treatments for depression, the best treatment for depression is get off your AZZ and take control of yourself. Yes, We all can fall victim to
    Depression if we allow our selves to! Legalizing and promoting all these exotic drugs and allowing these same people who are targeting the opportunity to get rich off of producing and subscribing all this garbage is basicly legalizing and promoting stupidity and insanity. Every single state that has legalized this kinda of crap has quickly deteriorated into a breeding ground for a bunch of drug Addled freaks who end up using the government to finance their self made drug addictions, if you want to smoke your pot grow or buy your own. If you like your beer, brew or buy your own, if your such a mental wreck that you want the taxpayer to fund your own self destruction then your far beyond help,
    You need to help yourself and pay for your own acts of lunacy. This is exactly how this Country will eventually fall, when you have a bunch of nut case political parasites promoting total stupidity and self destruction for their own pre arranged opportunities to profit off it. So tell me when will the state start a program and pass laws that pays for and promotes my own indulgence and needs for the occasional 12 pack of beer, where can I get my subscription , oh I forgot these laws never apply to working stiffs who pay all their own bills, and all the bills of the thousands in government who fleece the taxpayers at every turn, what a bunch of loony crooked self serving Pieces of Garbage!

    • I guess I missed the part that says this was being paid for by government, the fiscal note actually says it won’t cost the state anything.

    • The state doesn’t need to buy your beer, but they sure shouldn’t put you in jail for it. Why are we putting people in jail for choosing to use drugs? Aren’t the effects of the drugs punishment enough?

      Why is the government wasting all this money protecting people from themselves? Let’s give freedom a chance.

      • Accepting for purposes of discussion, your argument, I ask: In your world where we allow people to use drugs – a choice by them – why should society and government be expected to pay for their drug treatment costs? I generally don’t like the “I use and you pay” approach.

    • Am pretty sure your contention went off the rails when it seemed to say ‘just get over it’. Major mental illness includes schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and MDD i.e. major depressive disorder — all of them made worse with substance use disorder. Figure often cited is 1 in 4 suffer mental illness in their lifetime. But, I do agree there are a number of treatments available. Many allow successful management and recovery. It is my personal belief that for an illness for which symptoms are wholly subjective, that we do not depend on favorable or deleterious effects on society as the sole measure of efficacy ie eugenics, nor make financial incentives the argument for legalization eg Colorado’s pot shop industrial benefit to State taxation bottom lines which then must be used for marijuana abuse-related treatment. (I don’t mention alcohol as it’s been used since the first delibetate mold fermentations of sugars, of course.)

    • Good one M. John!
      The Psychedelic Task Force has been playing in this country in some form or other since at least the 50’s, smashing guitars, breaking up over creative differences and reforming under a new lead singer (currently Forest Dunbar) always playing the same tune and always using the military in their lyrics.
      I think the overall goal is to make hard-core drug use acceptable by finding any supposed “benefit” to justify the indiscriminate use.
      Ironically if I remember correctly Forest is one of those, who regularly bemoans the rampant drug and alcohol use in native villages, demanding the state make more funds available……fighting the fire, while feeding the flames????

  29. Throughout Covid and since, Dunbar NEVER once mentioned VITAMIN D for Covid, which is the MAIN KEY and is almost free.

    LOW VITAMIN D levels are also a MAIN KEY to fight depression. Dunbar pushes addictive and dangerous drugs instead.

    He’s evil, and is destroying Alaska.

    Former Assemblyman John Weddleton gave former Assemblyman Forest Dunbar the cartoon figure that he thought best represented Dunbar.

    Dunbar brought this up during Weddleton’s last Assembly meeting: “You gave me one [jelly with Dunbar’s picture on it] that had, I think it was Galactus, who was a SUPER VILLAIN.”

    Wikipedia describes Galactus as “a god-like figure who feeds by DRAINING living planets of THEIR ENERGY, and operates WITHOUT REGARD TO the MORALITY and JUDGMENTS of mortal beings.”

    Something is seriously wrong with Alaskans for electing leaders who destroy Alaskans and Alaska.

    And media sources that promote Dunbar are anti-Alaska, deceiving many!

  30. Jared , catch a clue , people who use drugs in excess are total drains on society…example, you drink too much and drive or raise to much hell, you get caught then you go to jail , pay fines, and it hurts you in the. Pocket book, and rightfully so in my book,
    And I’ve been there and done that!!! But all these other over the top drugs that totally destroy lives and cost the communities in excess, so it sounds to me Jared you think it’s perfectly fine that massive hard core drug use which always leads in higher crime rates , drains on the taxpayers with a revolving door of these people in and out of emergency rooms, jails, and not to mention the property theft and the effect it all has on a society as a whole. How is legalizing all these garbage drugs helping anything, it basicly gives the hard core drug users more rights at no consequences then it gives your average beer drinker who still has to face all these laws that target them specificly,
    Hell they don’t even pull over these wild eyed crack heads as aggressively as they do a guy who drinks a few beers and drives home, so why is that, because most these pathetic over the top druggies won’t pay fines, and won’t show up to court even when they attempt to deal with them, most these low life’s don’t work for a living, they steal for they can continue their addiction ..legalizing didn’t even work for pot in several states, it just gave people more access to it, which
    Means more people using in public and on the job, makes the youth feel empowered and leads them to become deadbeats who are more interested in smoking their next joint then they are getting out of bed to go to work ! Hell nowdays if you go to work smelling of beer , your rightfully sent home, but if you go to work smelling of pot in many cases your rewarded and protected because of you rights, it’s a total joke. Hell many companies don’t even drug test anymore because pot users claim they are unfairly treated lol, a total joke is what legalizing it created!

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