Department of Medicine

Larner College of Medicine dean Richard L. Page, M.D. (left), and Vermont State Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D.

(MAY 15, 2024) Richard L. Page, M.D., dean and professor of medicine at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, and Vermont State Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., associate dean for graduate medical education and professor of medicine at Larner, or their designees, will be among those participating in an advisory working group tasked with studying psychedelic therapy to improve mental health, GreenMountain Cannabis News Reports.

A bill passed last week by Vermont lawmakers established the working group, which, according to the bill, will review existing research and then make “findings and recommendations regarding the advisability of the establishment of a state program to permit health care providers to administer psychedelics in a therapeutic setting and the impact on public health of allowing individuals to legally access psychedelics under state law.”

The House version of the bill says the working group will be made up of the following officials or their designees: the dean of the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, the president of the Vermont Psychological Association, the president of the Vermont Psychiatric Association, the executive director of the Vermont Board of Medical Practice, the director of the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation, the executive director of the Vermont Medical Society, the state commissioner of health, and the commissioner of mental health. They will seek testimony from Johns Hopkins’ Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, in addition to any other entities with an expertise in psychedelics. A written report will be due by November 15.