United Statesstate reportMT

Psychedelic research and access in

Montana

Montana has no state-regulated psychedelic services pathway and no verified local decriminalisation framework. Montana Code lists psilocybin and psilocin in Schedule I alongside DMT, ibogaine, LSD, MDMA and mescaline.

Key Insights

  • 1

    Montana remains a no-pathway state for classical psychedelic access.

  • 2

    Psilocybin and psilocin remain Schedule I under Montana law.

  • 3

    HB 955 showed therapeutic psilocybin interest in 2023 but failed.

  • 4

    Spravato access is more concrete because Montana Medicaid has prior-authorisation criteria.

  • 5

    Rural implementation, not only legal status, is the core access constraint.

Research Snapshot

Deep report

Blossom currently tracks 2 psychedelic clinical trials with verified sites in Montana, including 1 active study.

Active trials
1

Verified state-linked study sites

Total trials
2

Linked trial records

Stakeholders
2

2 physical, 0 jurisdiction-linked

Events
0

Linked state-level events

Top Compounds

  • Ketamine(1)
  • Psilocybin(1)

Top Study Topics

  • Chronic Pain(1)
  • PTSD(1)

Access and Reimbursement

Ketamine/esketamine access; no state-regulated classical psychedelic pathway

Current patient access is ordinary ketamine/esketamine, not psilocybin or other classical psychedelics. Montana Medicaid lists Spravato as a physician-administered drug with prior-authorisation criteria, and the state's provider site flags Spravato among drugs with specific criteria sets. Veterans may also encounter ketamine/esketamine through VA channels.

Research signal

Available

This source pass did not verify a major Montana-based classical psychedelic clinical trial site. The most visible evidence-related activity is adjacent: VA and private interventional psychiatry access, plus payer criteria for esketamine.

Ketamine / esketamine

Available

Current patient access is ordinary ketamine/esketamine, not psilocybin or other classical psychedelics. Montana Medicaid lists Spravato as a physician-administered drug with prior-authorisation criteria, and the state's provider site flags Spravato among drugs with specific criteria sets.

No state service model

Not Available

No state-regulated psilocybin, MDMA or natural-medicine service model is verified for Montana.

Classical psychedelics

Not Available

Montana's policy picture is quiet compared with Nevada, Minnesota or Missouri. HB 955 put a therapeutic psilocybin model on the table in 2023 but failed, and this source pass did not verify an active 2026 implementation process, advisory board or funded psychedelic task force.

Reimbursement / payment

Limited

Montana has state-specific Medicaid or payer material relevant to esketamine, but current plan criteria should be rechecked before publication.

Policy and Access Timeline

State-level bills, laws, pilots, agency actions and reimbursement signals that shape real-world access.

  1. 1 Jan 2026

    ActivePayer Policy

    Montana Medicaid provider materials continue to list Spravato among physician-administe...

    Montana Medicaid provider materials continue to list Spravato among physician-administered drugs requiring criteria review.

    Montana
    Montana Medicaid Prior Authorization Information
  2. 1 Jan 2004

    ActivePolicy Update

    Montana voters approve medical cannabis, creating a broad drug-policy precedent but not...

    Montana voters approve medical cannabis, creating a broad drug-policy precedent but not psychedelic access.

    Montana
    Montana Code Annotated Section 50-32-222

Regulatory Status

Montana has no state-regulated psychedelic services pathway and no verified local decriminalisation framework. Montana Code lists psilocybin and psilocin in Schedule I alongside DMT, ibogaine, LSD, MDMA and mescaline. Ketamine is not part of that same classical psychedelic category and can be used through ordinary medical channels where clinically appropriate. The clearest recent psychedelic-specific bill was HB 955 in 2023, which proposed psilocybin-assisted therapy for PTSD and mental-illness treatment. The bill did not pass. A later 2025 draft described as a psilocybin-assisted therapy pilot concept did not produce a verified enacted programme in the sources reviewed here.

Medical Access Summary

Current patient access is ordinary ketamine/esketamine, not psilocybin or other classical psychedelics. Montana Medicaid lists Spravato as a physician-administered drug with prior-authorisation criteria, and the state's provider site flags Spravato among drugs with specific criteria sets.###

Veterans may also encounter ketamine/esketamine through VA channels. Montana VA Health Care describes innovative treatment options for major depressive disorder that include ketamine or esketamine therapy. Private Montana clinics also advertise Spravato, IV ketamine or IM ketamine, but these are organisation claims and should be treated as access signals rather than independent evidence of broad coverage.###

Local Research Map

Verified Blossom records with coordinates in Montana, including trial sites, physical stakeholders and events.

Policy and Access Context

Montana's policy picture is quiet compared with Nevada, Minnesota or Missouri. HB 955 put a therapeutic psilocybin model on the table in 2023 but failed, and this source pass did not verify an active 2026 implementation process, advisory board or funded psychedelic task force.###

The state's broader right-to-try and experimental-treatment politics may matter in future, but those are not the same as legal psilocybin access. Blossom should therefore keep Montana conservative: illegal outside research, ordinary ketamine/esketamine where available, and limited policy momentum.###

Research Focus

This source pass did not verify a major Montana-based classical psychedelic clinical trial site. The most visible evidence-related activity is adjacent: VA and private interventional psychiatry access, plus payer criteria for esketamine.###

Montana should not be framed as a psychedelic research hub unless Blossom's trial map identifies an active local sponsor or site. The more useful reader-facing point is geographic access: a rural state may have some ketamine/esketamine providers, but classical psychedelic research and specialist services are likely concentrated outside the state.###

Implementation Context

Because no psilocybin services law is active, Montana has no facilitator licensing, service-centre approval, product-testing rules or state reporting regime. Implementation is limited to ordinary medical oversight for ketamine/esketamine, Medicaid prior authorisation, REMS requirements for Spravato and federal research controls.###

If future bills return, implementation will need to solve rural access, practitioner training, safety monitoring, product supply, and coordination with federal law. None of those pieces is currently operating as a Montana psychedelic programme.###

Ecosystem Context

The verified ecosystem is mostly clinical rather than academic. Montana VA Health Care, Montana Psychiatry, Inner Journey Healthcare and other clinics indicate that ketamine/esketamine services exist in the state, especially around larger centres such as Billings, Missoula and Helena.###

For policy readers, Montana is best treated as an access-scarcity state. It has some interventional psychiatry activity, but little verified classical psychedelic infrastructure.###

Key Milestones

2004
Montana voters approve medical cannabis, creating a broad drug-policy precedent but not psychedelic access.
Mar 2023
HB 955 is introduced to legalise psilocybin use for PTSD and mental-illness treatment.
May 2023
HB 955 dies without creating a programme.
Apr 2025
The 69th Montana Legislature adjourns without verified enactment of a psychedelic access programme.
2026
Montana Medicaid provider materials continue to list Spravato among physician-administered drugs requiring criteria review.

Future Outlook

Montana is unlikely to move quickly into state-regulated psilocybin services unless a new bill appears with clearer implementation design. Near-term change is more likely through federal approval of a psychedelic medicine or incremental expansion of ketamine/esketamine capacity.###

For Blossom readers, the main monitoring points are renewed legislative drafts, Montana Medicaid coverage criteria, VA implementation and whether any university or hospital system becomes a verified trial site.###

Sources and Verification

Last updated 18 May 2026. Source links are drawn from citation annotations in the subnational report.

  1. 1Inner Journey Healthcare
  2. 2Montana Code Annotated Section 50-32-222
  3. 3Montana HB 955 bill text
  4. 4Montana Healthcare Programs Spravato criteria
  5. 5Montana Medicaid Prior Authorization Information
  6. 6Montana Psychiatry
  7. 7VA Montana Health Care

State-Linked Stakeholders

Organisations with verified physical locations or jurisdiction-level coverage in Montana.