PHOENIX — The promise of treating Arizonans' mental health issues with mind-altering mushrooms is running into reality at the state Capitol.
About $2.75 million in funding for a clinical study of magic mushrooms' impact on patients is a month away from being cut off.
Legislation that would extend the funding into 2026 appears to be dead.
A separate bill that would create a structure for mushroom research and funding in Arizona has stalled after winning approval in the state Senate.
The setbacks come as research suggests that magic mushrooms are an effective therapy for PTSD, anxiety, and other mental health issues. First responders and veterans came together at a Capitol news conference in February to push for the legislation.
Voters in Oregon and Colorado have legalized the use of magic mushrooms. Oregon's law has been in effect for a year; Colorado's law is set to take effect later this year.
The Arizona Department of Health Services awarded Dr. Sue Sisley a $2.75 million grant over three years for what she said would be the first human studies with natural hallucinogenic mushrooms. The grant was finalized in February.
"I'm a scientist, I'm inherently skeptical about anything like this, so I want to see the data," Sisley said in an interview at her Scottsdale Research Institute.
The Legislature's failure to act means the state grant funding stops on June 30.
Sisley is still preparing to get clinical trials off the ground. She held meetings at her clinic with advocates this week.
She said Attorney General Kris Mayes' legal settlements in opioid lawsuits could be a potential funding source. She's also looking for philanthropists who care about the work.
But Sisley's not counting on her grant funding being restored in the new state budget that takes effect July 1.
"I'm not confident," she said. "With the state being in an almost $2 billion deficit, it's very likely that all that money will get clawed back."
A spokesman for Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said her office couldn't comment on the state budget.
Negotiations on the budget are ongoing. The state's new fiscal year starts in a month, on July 1.
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