Illinois weighs psychedelic-assisted therapy in landmark CURE Act – Chicago Health
Chicago Health reports that the Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens (CURE) Act is the first major effort to legalize clinical use of psilocybin in the state of Illinois. The legislation would establish a licensing system and advisory board to allow qualified practitioners to administer psilocybin for mental health treatment. While the bill has steadily gained support among lawmakers, deeply entrenched stigma and sensationalism remain significant hurdles.
SSDP Elected Director, Jeanne Porges, who serves as the Secretary on our Board of Directors, was quoted in the article.
“It’s not necessarily the psychedelic that brings the healing,” says Jeanne Porges, a doctoral student in clinical psychology who leads her college’s chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. “It’s the psychedelic that facilitates meaningful changes in thought patterns and behavioral patterns, and allows you to have the capacity to heal.”
Porges knows the power of these experiences firsthand. “In a lot of ways, psychedelics changed everything about my life,” she says. “When I first tried mushrooms, I was in the hospital, I did not see a point in living, I did not see my value as a human being. Psychedelics brought all of that back for me. They brought self-love back.”
