Marijuana Moment: Utah Governor Signs Bill To Support Clinical Trials On Psychedelics For Veterans’ Mental Health

2026-03-23T15:14:15Z

Utah’s governor has signed a bill to promote clinical trials into the efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapy for military veterans with serious mental health conditions.

Lawmakers passed the the legislation from Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost (D) and Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore earlier this month, sending it to Gov. Spencer Cox (R), who signed it into law without comment on Thursday.

The measure authorizes the Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah to conduct a clinical trial investigating the “safety and feasibility” of psychedelics—including psilocybin, MDMA and DMT—among veterans with treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The trial will be able to go forward if Huntsman receives funding through legislative appropriations and donations that match or exceed the amount required for the study. Results from the trail will need to be reported to the legislature’s Health and Human Services Interim Committee.

Participants in the study will need to receive the psychedelic treatment in a controlled clinical setting with a qualified therapist who can deliver “trauma-informed preparatory and integrative psychotherapy to the individual before and after administration of the psychedelic drug,” the text of the bill, HB 390, says.

Under the new law signed by the governor, the study is expected to begin by January 1, 2027. However, the Huntsman Institute can continue to accept donations after that point if they are unable to reach the funding goal in time.

Researchers will have to ensure compliance with both state and federal law, including conducting the trial under a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigational new drug application and maintaining Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) authorization to study Schedule I drugs under federal law.

The new reform comes about two years after the governor allowed a bill to become law without his signature that authorizes a pilot program for hospitals to administer psilocybin and MDMA as an alternative treatment option.

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Meanwhile, last year, a federal judge ruled against Utah state and county officials in a lawsuit challenging their prosecution of a Provo City-based religious group that uses the psychedelic fungi as sacrament. That came after U.S. District Judge Jill N. Parrish granted Singularism’s motion for a temporary injunction and ordered police to return psilocybin that was seized last year as part of a raid at its spiritual center.

Separately, a Utah lawmaker in January filed a bill for the 2026 session that would decriminalize marijuana and make it so that people caught possessing small amounts of cannabis would not face the threat of jail time for first-time offenses.

Utah does have legal medical cannabis under a law the legislature passed in 2018. And that program has significantly grown in the years since, with the state confirming last year that more than 100,000 patients were registered to participate.

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