Seven Massachusetts communities have already taken the step of decriminalizing possession and use of selected psychedelic plants.
The state of Oregon has already decriminalized the substances through a ballot question posed to voters in 2020 for both medicinal and non-medical supervised use. California is also starting down the path to decriminalization. Could Massachusetts be next?
Psilocybin, more commonly known as magic mushrooms, is currently classified as Schedule 1 narcotics by the federal government, the designation for substances defined as having a high likelihood of abuse and no “currently accepted medical use.”
But certain legislators, therapists, residents and others testifying before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary Tuesday, begged to differ.
Sen. Patricia Jehlen, D-Somerville, and Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, took the lead in filing measures that would decriminalize the use and production of substances like psilocybin, more commonly known as magic mushrooms, and make them available to Massachusetts adults.
“The bill has a lot of supporters,” Jehlen said. Her communities, both Cambridge and Somerville, have already decriminalized the substances, as have Northampton, Eastampton, Amherst and Salem.
The Worcester Human Rights Commission also passed a measure that calls for allowing veterans and first-responders access to the medications, according to James Davis of Bay Staters for Natural Medicine.
The organization advocates for the decriminalization of medicinal plants and their derivatives and says it is committed to “bring transparency to plant medicine use and end the entire ‘War on Drugs’ that has decimated our communities.”
The goal, Davis said, is to keep big pharmaceutical companies from claiming medicinal plants as proprietary, and ultimately charging people many thousands of dollars for care that our community can provide better.
The psychedelics were classified as a Schedule 1 substance in 1973, making possession illegal except under tightly regulated circumstances. The classification has restricted efforts to research the substances and any medical uses.
According to a Drug Enforcement Administration fact sheet, psilocybin can cause nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness and a lack of coordination, as well as panic reactions and “psychotic-like” episodes.
The fact sheet adds: “Abuse of psilocybin mushrooms could also lead to poisoning if one of the many varieties of poisonous mushrooms is incorrectly identified as a psilocybin mushroom.”
However, research released in 2022 by Johns Hopkins University found that patients treated with psychedelic medicines, psilocybin, for major depressive disorder reported significant anti-depressive effects. The results, coupled with supportive therapy, may last for up to a year, according to the report.
Johns Hopkins researchers in 2018 recommend the drug be reclassified to a Schedule IV, similar to sleep aids, but with tighter control.
In his testimony, Chip McHugh, a Woburn resident spoke at the hearing of the years he struggled with substance use disorders and his drive to maintain sobriety. He told the committee that he came close to losing the battle when he opted to try psychedelics.
“I was in the fourth year of my sobriety, I was getting discontented, irritable,” McHugh said, adding he feared he would relapse. He said he researched his options and when all else had failed, he decided it was worth the risk.
“The experience changed my life,” McHugh said, explaining he used the substance four times and finally was able to come to terms with his trauma, his relationship with his father and his sobriety. “More people could be served if it were made legal.”
Testifying with McHugh were two others; Winthrop police Lt. Sarko Gergerian, who has a background in psychotherapy and the use of entheogenic compounds to mitigate trauma; and Dr. Franklin King, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“I watched the mental health crisis unfold in Massachusetts,” King said. “It was clear to me that these medicines could offer help in many conditions.”
Passing the legislation, King said, would increase the ability of patients to access the medications.
“It’s almost impossible to overdose, it’s not addictive, it’s medically safe,” King said, urging legislators to see the value in the bill and pass it quickly.
Legislators file bills to decriminalize magic mushrooms in MA – Worcester Telegram
