The Governor of Massachusetts promotes the testimony of activists that spoke in support of her veterans’ bill. This bill would, among other things, create a work group on psychedelics to investigate the therapeutic potentials of substances like psilocybin.
Psychedelic reform advocates urged lawmakers to pass the Honoring, Empowering, and Recognizing our Veterans and Servicemembers (HERO) Act, which Gov. Maura Shealey (D), introduced by the Democratic Party last month.
Legislators are also asked to take into consideration a separate proposal that would legalize substances like ayahuasca and psilocybin for adults. If lawmakers decline to pass the reform, activists can collect more signatures in order to put it on the November ballot.
The governor’s bill on veterans has a more limited scope for psychedelics. The proposal would not immediately create a legal framework, but it requires the Executive Office of Veterans’ Services to convene a group to study alternative therapies for mental healthcare treatments for veterans and explore “whether psychedelic treatment is associated with better outcomes among veterans diagnosed with mental health disorders.”
Emily Oneschuk, a Navy veteran who is the campaign director of Massachusetts for Mental Health Options (MMHO), which is behind a psychedelics ballot drive, testified at Tuesday’s Hearing about her own transformational experience with psilocybin assisted therapy for post-traumatic disorder (PTSD).
She said, “The retreat helped me bring together the difficult and disparate pieces of my own life in a way I could not have done in traditional talk therapy. The effects of the retreat are still with me today.” “I have seen it work for me, my peers and countless others that had no other options. I hope to make it available to those who are most in need.”
Oneschuk’s testimony was one of several examples of psychedelics-centered comments referenced by the governor’s office in a press release Tuesday that broadly advocated for the enactment of her veterans bill.
Sam Chapman of the Healing Advocacy Fund was quoted in the Governor’s press release. He said that the HERO act “supports the research of psychedelic medicines as a tool for mental healthcare for those who are struggling with PTSD including our veterans.”
He said: “Massachusetts Veterans answered the call to serve the state and the country and deserve to receive the care they require when they return to their home.”
Winthrop Police Department Lieutenant Sarko Gergerian gave testimony at the hearing, criticizing the “barriers that are in place on the federal and state levels which have prevented for far too long the creation of scientific evidence around psychedelic drugs.”
He said that the bill was a positive step towards correcting past mistakes and adding to the scientific basis of these treatments.
The panel created by the Governor’s legislation will need to evaluate literature, research trials, and expert opinions in order to determine if psychedelic treatment is associated with better outcomes for mental health treatments of veterans. It would also be required to make recommendations “regarding psychedelic therapies to treat veterans in Massachusetts with mental disorders.”
The law limits the scope of psychedelics to be studied only to psilocybin MDMA, and ketamine.
The secretary of EOVS will need to appoint two members to represent medical centers that provide services to veterans, two representatives from health insurance companies, and two representatives from veterans service organizations. One member would be a representative of an organization currently studying psychedelics as a therapy, plus any other members deemed necessary to complete the research.
The working group must submit a report containing findings and recommendations to the clerks of both the House and Senate, as well as two joint legislative committees by January 1, 2025.
The governor said that her legislation “represents a visionary commitment from our administration to redefine Massachusetts’ landscape for veterans’ services.” The bill’s core purpose is to ensure that veterans are properly supported by increasing benefits, modernizing service, and reaching out to more veterans and their families.
She said, “Together we can ensure Massachusetts does not only do right by our vets, but also leads the nation when it comes to providing the best services for veterans.”
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MMHO activists’ measure, now in front of the legislature, would establish a regulatory framework that would allow for the lawful and supervised use of psychedelics by licensed facilities.
In the first week of this month, Massachusetts officials confirmed that enough signatures were submitted by activists to force a legislative review of the initiative for legalizing psychedelics.
After the state attorney general determined that both initiatives met the constitutional requirements for ballot placement in the following months the activists chose to pursue the version which included a home-cultivation option.
The legislature can now choose to either enact this reform or propose an alternative, or to decline to act. 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.
Bay Staters for Natural Medicine, a local psychedelics group, says it is preparing to present a revised version of this initiative to lawmakers in the spring. The group has previously supported the ballot measure version that allowed home cultivation. It now proposes to remove language about creating a regulatory panel to oversee the program.
BSNM helped implement local policies that deprioritized enforcement of laws against psychedelics. These cities include Salem, Somerville Cambridge, Easthampton Northampton Amherst Provincetown.
Separately in Massachusetts, a Republican legislator submitted three psychedelics-reform bills last year . These included proposals to legalize substances such as psilocybin, and reschedule MDMA while waiting for federal approval, along 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.
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Image by Kristie Gianpulos.
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