The Marijuana Herald – Marijuana news and information
Massachusetts lawmakers have filed a record number of bills related to psychedelics for the 2025 session, more than of any US state in history.
According to Massachusetts for Mental Health Options (MMHO), the group behind Question 4 which was successfully placed on the November 2024 ballot but didn’t receive enough votes to be enacted, Massachusetts lawmakers have filed a record 10 bills related to psychedelics for the 2025 session, the most of any US state in history, “demonstrating continued and expanded support for psychedelics reform despite the failure of the psychedelics ballot measure proposal”.
The new legislative proposals include:
- Three psychedelic pilot program bills: HD.4017 presented by Representative Lindsay Sabadosa, HD.4196 presented by Representative Marjorie Decker, and SD.1624 presented by Senator Cindy Friedman.
- One psilocybin legalization bill: HD.1003 presented by Representative Patrick Joseph Kearney.
- One psychedelics task force bill: HD.4243 presented by Representative Mike Connolly.
- One breakthrough therapies research bill: SD.323 presented by Senator Dylan Fernandez.
- Four psilocybin decriminalization bills: HD.3368 presented by Representative Steven Owens, HD.188/SD.870 presented (by request without sponsoring) by Representative Marc Lombardo and (by request without sponsoring) by Senator Cindy Friedman, and HD.3895 presented (by request without sponsoring) by Representative Homar Gómez.
“We are thankful for everyone who supported Question 4 and helped lay the groundwork for next steps, especially the numerous lawmakers, the city councils, the leadership of Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Massachusetts, and the hundreds of healthcare professionals and experts, including two internationally renowned psychiatric researchers, who endorsed the policy”, said MMHO in a press release. “Thanks to Question 4, backed by more than 20 current and former psychedelics researchers, it is clear there is expert support for immediate, widespread legal access to at least certain psychedelics.”
Even though Question 4 failed to gain majority support from voters, the group says that “in our post-mortem poll, over half of respondents were supportive of removing criminal penalties for personal use of natural psychedelics and roughly two-thirds were supportive of therapeutic access.”…