WITH LEGAL CANNABIS sales now widespread in Massachusetts, advocates are mounting a ballot campaign aimed at a new frontier: legalizing mushrooms and other psychedelics.
Promoted by a group called Mass. for Mental Health Options, the proposed ballot measure would establish a bureaucracy similar to the Cannabis Control Commission to make “naturally occurring” psychedelics like magic mushrooms (psilocybin), peyote (mescaline), and ibogaine available for consumption in “therapeutic settings through a regulated and taxed system.”
The group is affiliated with a political action committee called New Approach, which has successfully pushed psychedelic therapy ballot measures in Colorado and Oregon.
At a legislative hearing on the ballot measure Tuesday, proponents gave long testimonials about the psychedelic trips that have helped them overcome depression, anxiety, and a variety of other mental health difficulties.
Emily Oneschuk, a US Navy veteran and the grassroots campaign director for Massachusetts for Mental Health Options, spoke about the various struggles she faced while in the Navy, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, and bullying. She was also grieving the death of her brother, who was shot and killed due to his involvement in a far-right group. She said that when she left the Navy, she was depressed. Then she went to a retreat in Jamaica where she took psilocybin.
“The whole of my psychedelic experience and the community associated with it has profoundly improved my quality of life,” said Oneschuk. “It brought me exactly where I needed to be to become a healthier and happier person.”
An expert who studies the effects of substances like psilocybin on mental health affirmed their potential therapeutic value. Dr. Franklin King, the director of training and education at the Mass General Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics, said there is ample evidence from population-level studies that psychedelic use is associated with potential benefits like the lower risk of addiction and better mental health.
“The current legal status of psychedelics as dangerous drugs…is egregiously incorrect,” said King. “[For this] class of psychedelics, particularly psilocybin, the medical risks are extremely minimal and potential for [physiological] abuse is close to zero. Millions of patients who need access to the benefits of psychedelics likely do not require the strict controls of the medical model.”
Dr. Nassir Ghaemi, a professor of psychiatry at Tufts Medical Center and the incoming president of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, spoke in opposition to the ballot measure, saying research has been inadequate on the public safety outcomes associated with the legalization of psychedelics.
Sen. Paul Feeney, a Democrat from Foxborough and a member of the legislative committee, said people are already using psychedelic substances and questioned Ghaemi on whether it would make sense to have some regulatory framework around their use.
Ghaemi said yes, but only if the ballot initiative passes. Otherwise, he argued, it would be much safer to wait for more research to come in and said that psychiatrists in other states are sounding the alarm on psychedelics.
Dr. John Fromson, the current president of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, emphasized the lack of information on the health outcomes of long-term recreational use. He noted the ballot measure would legalize three different avenues of psychedelic consumption: for wellness, for psychiatric purposes, and for spirituality. He also said the ballot question proposes to legalize a whole suite of psychedelics instead of just magic mushrooms.
Bay Staters for Natural Medicine, a coalition that backs the legalization of psychedelics, has warned against similar ballot efforts in the past, primarily because the groups advocates for the decriminalization of psilocybin rather than taking on the therapy model that the ballot question proposes. The therapy model is based on what exists currently in Oregon where psychedelics are legalized for therapy, which can cost thousands of dollars for a single session.
Instead, Bay Staters for Natural Medicine has advocated for bills that would legalize plant medicines for people ages 21 and older and expand the use of plant medicine. Rep. Nicholas Boldyga, a Republican from Southwick, has proposed one such bill.