Record Number of Psychedelics Bills Filed in Massachusetts

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:

“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.”

The group says they are dissolving at the end of January, “but the campaign’s work in promoting hope and healing through psychedelics in Massachusetts will continue through a successor non-profit organization led by Jamie Morey and CJ LoConte.”