Brett Waters, a Wynnewood native and New York lawyer who founded Reason for Hope, a nonprofit that advocates for psychedelics-assisted psychotherapy, has high hopes for the newly proposed magic mushrooms bill in Pennsylvania, writes Harold Brubaker for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Keystone State could become a national leader in studying magic mushrooms as a treatment for mental illness under the Public Health Benefits of Psilocybin Act which was introduced in the House of Representatives last month.

The proposed legislation would establish a framework that would allow clinical studies of psilocybin, the magic mushrooms’ active ingredient, as a potential treatment for some of the most serious mental health issues.

“It’s very clear at this point that current treatment that we offer people is not effective,” said Waters. “It has limited efficacy for some people and no efficacy for many people. We need to do better.”

Waters, whose mother and grandfather died by suicide after struggling with mental illness for years, is also pushing for similar research legislation in New York, North Carolina, and Florida.

“The real purpose of this effort is to prevent suicides, opioid overdose, alcohol-related deaths,” he said.

Read more about the proposed bill for magic mushrooms in The Philadelphia Inquirer.