FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joe O’Leary | Joe.OLeary@cga.ct.gov | 508-479-4969
April 8, 2026
Hoping to improve treatment and consideration of Connecticut residents experiencing treatment-resistant depression and post-traumatic stress injury, State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor), Senate Chair of the Public Health Committee, today led passage of legislation seeking to expand access to pilot programs that utilize psychedelics to support therapies.
The state has an existing pilot program utilizing psychedelics, which have shown evidence in trials and studies to help those experiencing treatment-resistant depression, but it is currently limited to veterans, retired first responders and direct health care workers experiencing mental health issues.
Senate Bill 191, “An Act Concerning The Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Pilot Program,” seeks to expand eligibility for this program to people 18 years or older meeting clinical eligibility criteria. The program utilizes MDMA or psilocybin to treat serious depression and PTSI.
This bill also eliminates a requirement that the pilot program will end if the federal Drug Enforcement Agency approves the drugs for medical use. While that has not yet happened, legislators want to ensure the studies can continue regardless of federal decision-making to better support Connecticut residents in need.
“We know that psychedelics can provide breakthroughs for people in direct need of care, and we know that we can always work to find new ways to help people. This bill aids both of those purposes,” said Sen. Anwar. “It does not legalize psychedelics; it makes sure their use to treat depression and post-traumatic stress is closely monitored and studied, with hopes that our findings can support a great many number of residents in the future.”
In recent years, an increasing number of medical studies have found a potential positive connection between novel therapies like psychedelic substances and treatment-resistant mental health issues, with MDMA and psilocybin both representing new opportunities for breakthroughs in care. This legislation is designed to allow Connecticut to further its research with more opportunity to help residents and gather information regardless of changing federal conditions.
The bill passed by a 35-0 tally. It now heads to the House for further consideration.
Share this page: