State Sen. Dianne Hesselbein and Sen. Jesse James visited the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Friday to give a seminar on healthcare policy in a state government political science class.
Despite coming from opposite sides of the aisle, the senators garnered bipartisan support on a recent proposal to create a new psilocybin pilot program for veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. The program would go through UW-Madison’s School of Pharmacy and Transdisciplinary Center for Psychoactive Substances.
“Everything revolves around individuals' mental health,” said James, R-Altoona, who previously served as a first responder. “PTSD is mental health.”
The psilocybin initiative is not the first time James and Hesselbein, D-Middleton, have worked together.
Earlier this year, the two introduced another bipartisan effort requiring school boards and governing bodies to include an opioid antagonist in first aid kits. The most common opioid antagonist known is Narcan.
But concerns over mental health and related conditions such as substance abuse in the state is not something new.
James told students the ongoing opioid epidemic was influential in his decision to support the opioid antagonist and psilocybin.
“I have been the one to administer Narcan in the field. I know how bad the opioid crisis is,” James said.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, opioid-related deaths increased by 46.7% from 2018 to 2020.
“I am always willing to learn,” James said. Hesselbein said her “door is always open to her colleagues.”
Hesselbein highlighted another mental health bill Friday that would allow mental health care providers licensed in other states to provide care to individuals in Wisconsin. Senate Bill 515 is similar to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ March 2020 order during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hesselbein said she has heard “more concern for mental health since January of this year” than ever before in her public service career which started in 2005.
Hesselbein and James’ psilocybin bill has yet to get a hearing in the Senate.
