Newly proposed bills reignite psychedelic decriminalization fight

Photo I Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/State House News Service The newly filed bills aim to decriminalize psilocybin.

Write a Comment

By Ella Adams I State House News Service

After voters rejected a ballot question last November that would have legalized some psychedelics, a number of newly filed bills have reignited the conversation and will lead another attempt to move toward decriminalizing psilocybin.

The bills don't directly mirror the failed ballot measure — which opponents contended was too wide-reaching — and instead represent smaller, more measured steps to introduce legalization across the state and regulate usage for Bay Staters with various medical and mental health conditions.

Northampton Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa offered a bill (HD 4017) that would introduce a statewide, five-site pilot program in which non-profit centers would offer psilocybin treatment for mental and physical health needs under the administration of mental health and medical professionals.

Sabadosa called the approach "more pragmatic" than the failed measure. Based on feedback and concerns from constituents and voters on either side of the measure, Sabadosa said the idea of utilizing psychedelics in a regulated manner, and for various conditions, isn't what voters opposed — the wording of the individual measure was. She looked to other states where such substances are legal, and found site-monitoring and data-collection to be essential pieces when writing the legislation, she said.

Cambridge Rep. Steve Owens — whose bill (HD 3368) would remove certain criminal penalties related to psilocybin that hasn't been medically prescribed — also described receiving extensive feedback. "Over the course of the Question 4 campaign, constituents reached out to me to say that this kind of treatment saved their life," he wrote to MASSterList. "I think we owe it to them to at least continue the conversation."

Fellow Cambridge Rep. Marjorie Decker filed a bill (HD 4196) that proposes a pilot "Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy Program," enabling the research and development of psilocybin services for adults struggling with conditions like PTSD, end-of-life stress and depression. Scituate Rep. Patrick Kearney filed another bill (HD 1003) that would establish a framework of "regulated adult use, support services, and cultivation of psilocybin-containing fungi."

As Beacon Hill tests the psychedelic waters, remember there are glimmers of support within the Massachusetts congressional delegation: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren voiced support last year, and U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton backed legalization as a tool to support veterans' mental health.