The fifth and final student presentation this week in the Marijuana Law and Policy seminar at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law will dive into the modern reform stories around psilocybin and how they compare to cannabis reforms. Here is how the student previews his topic along with some background reading:
Cannabis and psilocybin, two substances with deep historical roots in medicine and spiritual practice, both sit on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, classified alongside drugs like heroin ecstasy as having no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Yet a growing body of peer-reviewed research, combined with shifting social attitudes, has prompted dozens of states and localities to chart their own course, creating a patchwork of legalization, decriminalization, and therapeutic access frameworks that directly conflict with federal drug prohibition.
This presentation offers a comparative legal analysis of cannabis and psilocybin, tracing each substance from its historical origins through its federal scheduling, the divergent reform movements underway, and the clinical research reshaping the conversation around both. While cannabis reform is decades ahead, psilocybin is emerging along a strikingly parallel trajectory, with Oregon and Colorado pioneering supervised therapeutic models and the FDA granting Breakthrough Therapy designations for psilocybin-assisted treatment of depression.
By examining these two substances side by side, we can better understand the structural limitations of the CSA’s scheduling framework, the legal risks that persist for researchers and businesses operating in certain legal markets, and where reform is likely headed next. The core takeaway is that the federal government’s total drug prohibition is outdated and review the classifications of some drugs under the CSA.
Some background reading:
“New Mexico becomes Third State in the U.S. to Legalize Access to Psilocybin“
“A Strategy for Rescheduling Psilocybin: There are three legal pathways to deregulating the drug under the Controlled Substances Act”