Hello I just wanted to start by thanking everyone who has shown support and given financial help to this cause.  

Today I would like to take a moment to address people sitting on the fence of supporting this petition due to the following concerns I will get down to. 

I will start with common concerns to less common

There is not enough research that its safe

The safety profile shows it safe Physically and safe for you mentally.  The studies showing this are very rigorous meaning its more safe then recreational drugs like alcohol safer then SSRI`s and even safer then OTC drugs like Benadryl.     The only complications are usually due to people already having illnesses such as schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder, and predisposition to psychosis and illnesses like it.  For this reason the Bills we are supporting have required health screenings done by doctors.

Its not effective

From the research that has been done we have seen great effect in recent systematic reviews and in some clinical trials for depression.  Its also shown promise in addiction recovery and PTSD and we are only scratching the surface of it.  Though the best way to see how effective it is, is to open up New York to be a clinical testing ground and making New York a place where lots of research on this can be done because based on the safety profile and its safe use for centuries the worst thing that will happen from allowing this to be used is it simply not being as effective as we think it may be and if that's the case the patients will just go back to how they were living before the best thing is that it is effective and changes peoples lives for the better. 

Why can't we use the normal clinical trial method 

Companies have no incentive to go through the legal red tape and bureaucracy of a schedule one drug all for the chance that it is effective for exactly what they want it for and it gets approved and they still cant patent it.  Also due to it causing hallucinations its use will never be as broad as SSRIs.  There is a similar drug that had these same issues and eventually found a clinical use and that is cannabis.  Cannabis was slowly medically and recreationally legalized and through the research that was done in states that it was legal epidiolex aka Cannabidiol (CBD) was found as a effective treatment for children with seizures and is FDA approved.  This would never of been possible without rescheduling of Cannabis on state level for medical and research purposes.  I envision Norbaeocystin being the CBD to our legalization process but without it being legalized there will be no way to help people with it

This will deregulate and make a hallucinogen accessible to anyone

No only people prescribed by a doctor as it will only be for medical reasons can get it similar to a schedule 3 drug there will be strict monthly limits on how much you can get as well.  Also there are provisions to have people take it with a licensed psychedelic therapy practitioner meaning people prescribed this will have limits. The other thing is the prescriptions currently will not be accepted by insurance so it will be more economical for people who want to get high to get it illegally which will still be felony.

Why cant we make it recreational

Based on many responses I have seen as well as people being wary of psychedelics and how some view the cannabis rollout as messy I don't see the evidence that there would be enough widespread support/benefit currently to full legalization.  If you want it to one day be considered for full legalization state wide or nationally I recommend signing.

I'm Worried about people driving on this substance

This absolutely will not be allowed under the bill and harm reduction provisions will make this less likely.  Driving while Hallucinating will most likely end with you losing your prescription and ending up in cuffs. Also make sure when you call representatives that you mention this as a concern and give them ideas of anymore guardrails you can think of.

I Don't want people walking around tripping on the street

Neither do I or the people using the drugs.  It is commonly known tripping in public will lead to bad trips and with public intoxication still being illegal will lead you into having the rest of your trip in a cell. This bill only permits use with a practitioner and at home nothing else.

Doesn't Psilocybin turn people into murders like Charles Manson  

The fact we have maybe a handful of murderers who at most really just liked psychedelics in the decades they have been in common circulation (more years if you count when they were known in Latin America) should tell you all you need to know about that.  Charles Manson wasn't a murderer because of psychedelics he was a deranged man who used psychedelic communities and his psychedelic knowledge to lure young people into his deranged cult. In all of the clinical trails I haven't seen evidence of this happening either but just wait until you hear about what other prescription drugs and alcohol makes people do... 

Not enough people have the illnesses this targets

15% of all people who attempt suicide will try again. with 650k people attempting suicide a year means there are over 9700 people a year who treatments for depression fail with potentially fatal results. 39% of people (probably more) who take ptsd treatments don't respond to it. with 9 million people suffering from it we have 1350000 people who treatment does not work for at least. 2.8 million people have treatment resistant depression. with another 1.7million admitted to hospice a year. We have at least  5,859,700 Americans suffering from things that psilocybin should absolutely be approved to help them with and may be there only option left to be treated with. This doesn't even account for all the other things there's research for that psilocybin may help.

[insert name of psychedelic figure] says that psychedelics should stay illegal/heavily restricted due to anecdotal experiences

No big peer reviewed study says that all evidence points to psilocybin being effective and safe.  All actual scientist (even the ones who are cautious) want psychedelics rescheduled at the very least.  If someone tells you this or imply that the only person you should come to/trust on psychedelic information they are one (or all of) a couple things 1.believing in old tired lies/wanting to continue war on drugs for some reason (usually to help private prisons) 2.Gatekeeping and  not wanting other people to come into the community and challenge there knowledge 3. trying to make scarcity and high demand for psilocybin while positioning themselves to take advantage of the impending psychedelic boom.  Please listen to science.

Scientist and policy makers haven't said this drug should be rescheduled

The scientific community has for a long time said it should be and public health policy experts also do too.  I think rescheduling in this state aligns with that advice.

Change.org Petitions are useless just call your lawmakers

I already have! You who is reading this should as well.  This petition shows our support for Bill S495 and Bill A2142 and when we call our local lawmakers we should mention both our support and this petition`s signatures to persuade and the more signatures the more persuasive.   So sign the petition and call now!

Thanks for reading and your support!