A bill extending Maryland’s psychedelics task force through the end of 2027 is headed to [Gov. Wes Moore](https://biography.wiki/a/Wes_Moore)‘s desk after clearing the House of Delegates 109-24 last week, a lopsided vote that signals growing legislative appetite for moving the state’s psychedelic reform efforts forward.

The legislation, SB 336, was sponsored by Sen. Brian Feldman and would keep the Maryland Task Force on Responsible Use of Natural Psychedelic Substances alive and working through December 31, 2027. A companion bill in the House, HB 427, was introduced by Del. Pam Guzzone and awaits final action in the Senate. Both proposals do the same basic thing: buy the task force more time to refine its recommendations and potentially sketch out a regulatory framework for broader access.

The task force isn’t starting from scratch. It released an initial report to state lawmakers earlier this year that laid out a vision for phased, equitable access to natural psychedelic substances, with psilocybin at the center of its early focus. Under the extended timeline, the panel would be required to deliver an updated report with new findings and recommendations by October 31 of this year. Beyond that extended deadline and the continued existence of the task force itself, the current law wouldn’t change.

What makes the task force’s approach worth paying attention to is the framework it’s already recommended. Members advised a “multi-pathway” model that weaves together medical and therapeutic use, supervised adult use, decriminalization through deprioritization, and eventually commercial sales. The thinking is that no single lane serves everyone. A veteran dealing with PTSD and a wellness-focused adult seeking guided psilocybin sessions might need entirely different access points, and the framework tries to hold space for both.

The first phase of that plan would stand up an advisory board responsible for establishing safety parameters, data monitoring, practice guidelines, licensing protections, and public education. It would also fund training for facilitators, law enforcement personnel, and testing facilities. Perhaps most notably, the first phase includes what the report called “immediate restorative justice measures,” a direct acknowledgment that any honest conversation about psychedelic policy has to reckon with who bore the costs of prohibition.

The task force was formed after Moore signed two bills into law in 2024. The 17-person body operates under the oversight of the Maryland Cannabis Administration, the same agency that manages the state’s cannabis regulatory apparatus. That pairing isn’t accidental. Maryland legalized recreational cannabis in 2023, and the infrastructure built around that rollout, licensing systems, public health frameworks, equity provisions, gives the state a working model to learn from as it thinks about psychedelics.

One notable amendment added during the Senate process would place a representative from a historically Black college or university on the task force. Guzzone asked senators to include the same provision in the House version, and the Senate Finance Committee did so this week, bringing the two bills into alignment. The addition reflects a broader intention, stated repeatedly in the task force’s framework, to ensure that communities most harmed by drug enforcement have meaningful seats at the table when new policies are shaped.

That equity emphasis runs through the task force’s language consistently. The multi-phase framework was described as designed to “broadly and inclusively serve the needs of Maryland’s diverse population while enabling unified safety standards, accountability, and viable economic pathways for small businesses.” That last piece matters. Oregon’s Measure 109, which created a supervised psilocybin services program in 2020, has struggled with high service center costs that put access out of reach for many residents. Maryland appears to be watching that experiment carefully.

The political arithmetic behind the House vote, 109-24, is notable. In a chamber with 141 members, that margin isn’t a squeaker. It suggests the conversation about psychedelic policy has moved out of niche territory in Annapolis, even if the legislation itself is careful to expand study rather than mandate a specific outcome.

California has been down a similar road, with multiple psilocybin and psychedelic decriminalization bills moving through Sacramento in recent years, including Sen. Scott Wiener’s Senate Bill 58, which passed in 2023 and decriminalized personal possession of several plant-based psychedelics. But Maryland’s approach is distinct in that it’s building a regulatory and therapeutic access framework from the ground up, with a dedicated task force working in parallel with the legislature rather than leaving the policy design entirely to lawmakers.

For the cannabis industry watching from the West Coast, the Maryland developments carry real relevance. Psilocybin services are already operational in Oregon and Colorado has its own program underway. If Maryland moves forward with a commercial framework, it would represent a significant East Coast anchor for an emerging industry that currently exists almost entirely in western states.

Marijuana Moment first reported on this development.

The bill now waits for Moore’s signature. If he signs it, the task force keeps working, the October deadline kicks in, and Maryland stays on a path that could lead to one of the most comprehensive psychedelic access frameworks in the country.