Massachusetts Votes Down Psychedelic Therapy After Hard-Fought Legalization Campaign, What’s Next?
Massachusetts voters decisively rejected Question 4, a ballot measure proposing the legalization and regulation of certain psychedelics, including psilocybin, mescaline, DMT and ibogaine, for therapeutic use.
With 90% of votes counted, Question 4 was defeated with a 56.9% “No” vote, marking a significant setback for the U.S. psychedelics reform movement. This decision keeps Massachusetts from joining Oregon and Colorado in establishing a state-regulated system for psychedelic-assisted therapy, instead upholding current restrictions on psychedelics for those seeking alternative mental health treatments.
Hard-Fought Campaign
The campaign for Question 4, led by Massachusetts for Mental Health Options (MMHO), was heavily backed by the national drug policy reform PAC New Approach, several veterans groups like Reason for Hope and the Heroic Hearts Project, and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).
Opposition to Question 4 came from both prohibitionist organizations and dissenters within the psychedelics community itself. A majority of Massachusetts’ Special Joint Committee on Ballot Initiatives recommended against it. Governor Maura Healey, who introduced a veterans-focused bill to study psilocybin’s therapeutic potential also expressed caution about full-scale legalization. Within the psychedelics community, Bay Staters …