Seventh Massachusetts City Votes to Deprioritize the Arrests for Psychedelic Fungi and Plants

Provincetown, Massachusetts lawmakers voted to decriminalize the possession, use and noncommercial sharing psychedelic fungi and plants. This is the seventh municipality to reduce arrests for entheogens.

It also urges the state lawmakers to amend a pending proposal that would legalize psychedelics in all of Massachusetts after polling two versions. It also urges lawmakers to amend an proposal that would legalize psychedelics across all of Massachusetts, and which could end up in the ballot for 2024.

Provincetown Select Board approved the resolution with 3-1 votes on Monday. A fifth board member abstained. According to Boardmember Erik Borg, who read the resolution before the vote, the measure “requests the investigation and arrest of adults for planting psychedelic plants or fungi, cultivating them, distributing them, or engaging in practices involving psychedelics and/or possessing some of these plants” as the lowest priority of law enforcement.

The document also asks all town employees to “understand that the use and possessions of all controlled substances are primarily a matter of public health” and “to refrain from using any town resources in order to enforce laws criminalizing possessions of personal controlled substances.”

The resolution also calls for the district attorney of the county to stop prosecuting people who “possess, cultivate or distribute psychedelic plants or fungi, as well as possess personal controlled substances.” It emphasizes that the resolution does not allow commercial sales, driving while under the influence, or distributing or possessing the substances near school or “public disruption.”

Bay Staters for Natural Medicine, the group behind this advocacy effort, has helped enact local policies that deprioritize state laws against psychedelics enforcement in six other Massachusetts towns: Salem. Somerville. Cambridge. Easthampton. Northampton. Amherst.

Ptown in Massachusetts has just become:

Seventh city to stop arrests for plant medicines

The 7th city to demand Affordable State Reform

5th city to treat personal possession of all substances as a public health issue#masspoli #Massachusetts#harmreduction @statehousenews pic.twitter.com/bornOx0GaZ

Bay Staters for Natural Medicine 12 December 2023

During a presentation before the Provincetown Select Board BSNM Executive director James Davis stated that the resolution would achieve three main goals: promote education on psychedelics to improve public health, create economic opportunities for Provincetown, and guide reforms at the state-level.

Davis stated that BSNM’s internal economic projections show that passing the local measure “could produce nearly $13,000,000 a year in taxes for this municipality.” He added, however, that the group estimated that Provincetown’s overall economic activity would be between $920,000 to $13.8 million.

Davis was asked where the money would come. He replied that, under state proposals, facilitators can register for less than a couple hundred dollars to guide psychedelic tours, even for tourists who are not from the state.

Davis and Leslie Sandberg got into an argument. She said that she was in favor of the reform but felt that only people who were under medical supervision should be able to access psychedelics.

Sandberg said that having a medical card and working with a doctor is the most important step. She added that she knew people who were involved in clinical trials of psychedelic assisted therapy, and that she believed in their medical potential.

She told Davis that the way it helped people under medical supervision was amazing. I don’t believe it should be used for recreational purposes… People will start self-medicating if you offer this.

Sandberg ultimately abstained from the final vote. She explained that she could not vote for or against the reform but she felt she had to vote.

A member of the Select Board said that at the Monday meeting he was concerned the Select Board did not have the authority to direct the law enforcement activities, as it appeared the bill would.

Courtesy of Erik Borg, Provincetown Select Board

Davis responded that, because it is a measure called a resolution or a statement of an organization’s position, the measure would be interpreted as a request rather than a clear instruction.

He told the board that “in other townships, where we have worked, we recognize this as a resolution.” “It is already known that this request is made to the police department, and those city employees who are specified.”

Davis continued, “I have had this discussion a number of times and we always maintain that these changes aren’t as necessary. And we believe that a strong declaration will help us to continue our work by starting a dialogue with the police department.”

As advocates try to affect change at the State level, they are attempting to organize municipal advocacy. The new Provincetown Resolution, among other things, outlines how advocacy should be conducted.

The resolution specifically calls on state legislators “to substitute Natural Psychedelic Substance Act (a ballot question written in DC by a PAC) with language that allows plant medicine services to be legalized in a straightforward way, without a non-elected control commission prone for regulatory capture by outside interests.”

The campaign Massachusetts for Mental Health Options says that it submitted more than enough valid Signatures in the first week of this month, to force legislative consideration before the issue could be put on the 2024 state ballot.

The proposal would establish a regulatory framework to allow for legal and supervised access of psychedelics in licensed facilities. The proposal would legalize possession and gifting psychedelics like psilocybin or ayahuasca. However, it would not allow for retail commercial sales.

The campaign filed two different reform initiatives for psychedelics in August. The state attorney general determined in the months following that both initiatives met the constitutional requirement to be placed on the ballot. Activists then decided to go with the version which included a home-cultivation option.

The key details about the Natural Psychedelic Substances Act are:

Adults aged 21 and over can legally possess, grow, and share certain amounts psychedelics.
These psychedelics are covered by the limits of possession: DMT (1 gram), mescaline non-peyote (18 grams), Ibogaine (30 gram), psilocybin (1 gram) and Psilocin (1 gram). These weight limits exclude any materials that contain active substances or are part of them.
Possession of amounts up to the double limit will be punished by a civil fine of $100. Amounts above this amount are still criminalized.
The Natural Psychedelic Substances Commission will be established to supervise the implementation of this law, and the licensing of service providers and facilitators.
By April 1, 2026, the body, which will be modeled after the existing Cannabis Control Commission in California, must adopt rules for the regulated access to at least one psychedelic. The rest of the substances will need to have regulations in place by April 1, 2028. The application process would need to begin by September 30th 2026.
The Natural Psychedelic Substances Advisory Board will “study” and make recommendations to the Commission about public health, regulation, training of facilitators, affordable access and equity, traditional use of psychedelics, and future rules including possible additions of legal substances.
The tax on psychedelics bought at licensed centers would be 15 percent. Localities could also impose an additional 2 percent tax if the center is allowed to operate within their jurisdiction. The revenue would be used to finance the regulation of the program.
No provisions are made for expunging previous convictions from activities that will be legalized.
Local governments can regulate the hours, locations and types of service centers in their jurisdiction, but cannot ban them outright.
Adults can propagate psychedelics within a 12×12 foot space.
Civil legal protections would apply to licensure of professionals, child custody, and public benefits for those who engage in a legalized activity involving psychedelics.
The law will come into effect on December 15, 2024. Commission and advisory board must be established by March 1, 2020.

Last month, activists hit a temporary roadblock after local officials raised concerns about a large batch of petitions which featured a union symbol in violation of state ballot rules. The campaign responded with an intensive signature-gathering effort, which more than made up for the difference.

The legislature can choose to either enact reform or propose an alternative if the secretary of State affirms there are sufficient valid signatures. If lawmakers do not legalize psychedelics before May 1, activists will have until July 3, 2019 to collect at least 12,429 valid signatures in order to place the proposal on the ballot for November 2024.

Davis, at the Provincetown Select Board Meeting on Monday, rejected the idea of an unelected advisory panel. BSNM had previously stated that it was preparing to present a revised version to lawmakers this spring. The group has previously supported the ballot measure version that allows home cultivation. It now wants to remove the language creating a regulatory panel and give localities the authority to limit psychedelics in their area.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Shealey (D), recently introduced legislation which includes provisions to Create a psychedelics Working Group to Study and Make Recommendations About the Potential Therapeutic Benefits of Substances like Psilocybin or MDMA for Military Veterans.

—

Marijuana Moment tracks more than 1,000 cannabis and drug policy bills that have been introduced in state legislatures, and Congress. Patreon supporters who pledge at least $25/month gain access to our interactive charts, maps and hearing calendar.

Discover more about our marijuana bills tracker. Become a Patreon supporter to gain access.

—

Separately in Massachusetts, a Republican legislator introduced three reform bills in April . These included proposals to legalize substances such as psilocybin, and reschedule MDMA while waiting for federal approval, with a price limit on therapeutic access.

Other legislators have introduced several pieces of legislation in Massachusetts to legalize entheogenic drugs for adults, as well as separate measures.

A second bill would allow the Department of Public Health (DPH) to conduct an extensive study on the therapeutic potential of synthetic psychedelics such as MDMA.

Rep. Mike Connolly, (D), also filed in 2021 a bill that was heard by the Joint Judiciary Committee about examining the implications of legalizing substances such as psilocybin or ayahuasca.