Ex-Prosecutor Calls for Psilocybin Therapy Legalization in NY

NEW YORK – A former narcotics prosecutor who once enforced drug laws now argues that New York must open the door to psilocybin-assisted therapy, framing it as a necessary step toward treating chronic pain and mental health disorders with evidence-based care.

In an opinion piece, Victoria Cvitanovic, a Louisiana-trained attorney now practicing in psychedelic medicine, draws on her shift from courtroom adversary to patient advocate. She describes prosecuting drug cases in New Orleans, where she witnessed laws trap suffering individuals in cycles of arrest rather than recovery. A personal crisis [a severe back injury] plunged her into unrelieved pain, depression, and despair. Standard treatments offered no lasting relief until she turned to ketamine-assisted sessions, an experience that reshaped her career and outlook.

Cvitanovic, who serves as counsel at Rudick Law Group in New York, presses lawmakers to pass pending bills that would permit supervised psilocybin use in clinical settings. These measures, she writes, would authorize trained facilitators to oversee sessions, impose cultivation controls and require patient evaluations to maintain standards. Such steps, in her view, build trust in the process without restricting who benefits.

Her op-ed arrives as state legislators intensify scrutiny of psychedelics reform. On October 1, the Assembly Health Committee held a public hearing to examine psilocybin’s therapeutic potential, hearing from medical experts, veterans and first responders who detailed its role in easing treatment-resistant conditions like PTSD and cluster headaches. Assemblymember Amy Paulin, a Democrat sponsoring related legislation, underscored the urgency – thousands of New Yorkers grapple with mental health crises and persistent pain, yet federal scheduling of psilocybin as a controlled substance blocks access to promising options.

At least four bills, supported by FDA draft guidance, vie for traction. Senate Bill S495 proposes a grant program to fund psilocybin therapy for low-income patients, veterans, and first responders, backed by state appropriations. Assembly Bill A628 seeks to decriminalize personal possession and home cultivation of entheogenic plants, including psilocybin-containing mushrooms, for adults over 21. A companion measure, Senate Bill S1801, outlines a pilot program targeting 10,000 military personnel and public safety workers for guided sessions. Proponents, including Assemblymember Pat Burke, argue these initiatives address a public health gap, especially after Oregon and Colorado pioneered regulated programs that have enrolled hundreds in therapy without widespread incidents.

Yet the path forward demands scrutiny. Critics, including some Republican lawmakers at the hearing, question scalability: How will the state verify facilitator qualifications amid a nascent workforce? Equity remains a flashpoint. Cvitanovic warns that without subsidies, therapy risks becoming an elite service, echoing Cannabis market disparities where minority-owned businesses hold just 2% of licenses despite reform promises. A 2024 state audit found similar gaps in medical Cannabis distribution, where urban clinics dominate and rural access lags.

Public sentiment mirrors this divide. Social media chatter since the hearing spikes with support from health advocates [“Psilocybin saved my life after 9/11,” retired FDNY firefighter Joe McKay posted], but also backlash from skeptics decrying it as another step toward broad drug tolerance. Polls from US Berkley show 72% of US voters favor medical psilocybin access, up from 48% in 2023, driven by endorsements from groups like the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

Cvitanovic’s voice cuts through as one shaped by both sides of the enforcement line. “We need practitioners, patients and the public to engage in serious conversations about healing and justice,” she concludes in her piece. As New York weighs the above-mentioned bills, the debate tests whether the Empire State will extend its Cannabis trailblazing to psychedelics, balancing innovation with accountability.