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MARIJUANA MOMENT
MASSACHUSETTS JOINT COMMITTEE URGES LAWMAKERS NOT TO PASS PSYCHEDELICS
LEGALIZATION INITIATIVE, TEEING UP FINAL PUSH FOR BALLOT PLACEMENT
* Politics
* Massachusetts Joint Committee Urges Lawmakers Not To Pass Psychedelics
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POLITICS
MASSACHUSETTS JOINT COMMITTEE URGES LAWMAKERS NOT TO PASS PSYCHEDELICS
LEGALIZATION INITIATIVE, TEEING UP FINAL PUSH FOR BALLOT PLACEMENT
Published
3 seconds ago
on
May 6, 2024
By
Kyle Jaeger
A Massachusetts joint legislative committee is advising the legislature not to
pass a psychedelics legalization initiative—but activists are already collecting
additional signatures to put the reform before voters on the November ballot.
Lawmakers were required to consider the psychedelics measure, spearheaded by the
campaign Massachusetts for Mental Health Options (MMHO), after the state
certified advocates had submitted enough valid signatures in an initial
petitioning round last year. The legislature had until May 1 to make a decision
before the campaign was cleared to collect another 12,429 signatures by July 3
to secure ballot placement.
Last week, the Special Joint Committee on Ballot Initiatives issued a majority
report that formally recommended against passing the measure as drafted. This
comes just over a month after the panel held a hearing to gain expert feedback
on the proposal.
Teen Marijuana Use Has Declined In Washington Since Legalization
Teen Marijuana Use Has Declined In Washington Since Legalization
Recent data from a survey conducted among teenage students in Washington State
indicates a decline in both lifetime and recent marijuana use over the past few
years. The findings also suggest that underage students' perceived access to
cannabis has generally decreased since the state legalized it for adults in
2012. This contradicts concerns expressed by opponents of the policy change.
In 2023, approximately 8.4% of 10th graders in Washington reported using
marijuana in the past 30 days, a slight increase from 7.2 percent in 2021. But
both of those numbers were sharply lower than pre-legalization numbers. For
instance, in 2010, 20% of 10th graders admitted to using cannabis in the past
month. In King County, the most populous in the state, only 5.5% of 10th
graders reported recent cannabis use in 2023, down from 7.3% in 2021 and 18.1%
in 2010. Similar declines were observed in lifetime marijuana use across
different grade levels surveyed, including 6th, 8th, and 12th grades. "In 2021,
survey data showed a 50% decline in youth cannabis and alcohol use in the past
30-days among 10th graders. The 2023 results show these numbers have remained
relatively stable", said Kristen Haley, the state Liquor and Cannabis Board's
(LCB) public health education liaison. Health officials attribute the
significant drops in substance use between 2018 and 2021 partly to the COVID-19
pandemic. "The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it a large decrease, roughly 50%,
in most youth substance use. While the long-term impacts are unknown, in 2023 we
see that substance use has remained relatively stable, both in Washington and
nationally", said Washington State's Department of Health.
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The report acknowledges that a growing body of scientific literature shows
psychedelics such as psilocybin “may be highly effective in addressing a variety
of adverse mental health conditions” when administered in a controlled
environment.
But it says these “promising findings, however, have not provided evidence that
the widescale recreational legalization of these substances would be beneficial,
let alone safe.”
The joint committee also said it believes the measure’s primary goals of
licensing psychedelics service centers while broadly decriminalizing the
substances for adults “likely undercut each other by creating two separate
systems for the use of psychedelic substances.”
“The petition would both create a system of state-licensed and taxed therapeutic
facilities on the one hand and, on the other, decriminalize the cultivation,
possession, and distribution of a variety of hallucinogenic and psychoactive
substances,” it said.
“Voters are, therefore, being asked to simultaneously establish a potentially
costly licensure system that imposes regulations on the cultivation methods,
quality of product and allowable means of engaging certain users, while at the
same time making the same substances widely available for individual cultivation
and use across the Commonwealth in a non-licensed manner.”
Because the proposal would allow adults to legally possess certain amounts of
psychedelics outside of a licensed center and “gift” the substances, lawmakers
said that would likely lend to an unregulated market.
“The Committee finds that this loophole would likely subvert the safety
regulations imposed on licensed facilitators by permitting the growth of an
unregulated, unlicensed marketplace,” the report says.
Members further cautioned that the licensed psychedelics industry would face the
same barriers to financial services that the existing marijuana market does due
to federal prohibition, raising concerns about creating another cash-intensive
marketplace that would pose public safety risks.
“For these reasons, we, the majority of the Special Joint Committee on
Initiative Petitions, recommend that ‘An Initiative Petition for a Law Relative
to the Regulation and Taxation of Natural Psychedelic Substance’ (see House No.
4255) as currently drafted and presented to this Committee, OUGHT NOT TO BE
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE AT THIS TIME.”
The report also noted that the committee received input from the state
psychedelics advocacy group Bay Staters for Natural Medicine (BSNM), urging
lawmakers to make various revisions to the legalization initiative. But the
panel cited court precedent stipulating that the state Constitution only
authorizes the legislature to “provide minor technical changes to an Initiative
Petition.”
MMHO, the campaign behind the initiative, didn’t waste any time launching a
final signature gathering round to put the issue before voters this November.
Jennifer Manley, a spokesperson for the campaign, told Marijuana Moment on
Monday that they “weren’t surprised with the findings” in the report, though she
pushed back on the idea that decriminalization and regulation provisions are in
conflict. She said “there are restrictions and guardrails” in place under the
measure that would protect against potential abuses.
“We are really excited about it. We had to collect many in the fall—and in the
process of doing so, you get to meet so many people who are already passionate
about this issue, and then you have the chance to educate voters who are not,”
she said. “So we had a really enthusiastic response in the fall, and we are
expecting to have the same enthusiastic response now to have the signatures” for
ballot placement.
“When we started doing this—when we started gathering signatures in the fall—we
didn’t know what we were going to encounter. You never know when you’re going
out to public spaces,” she said. “And we were met with overwhelmingly positive
support. It was great.”
Here are the key details of the Natural Psychedelic Substances Act:
* Adults 21 and older could legally possess, grow and share certain amounts of
psychedelics.
* The covered psychedelics and possession limits are: DMT (one gram),
non-peyote mescaline (18 grams), ibogaine (30 grams), psilocybin (one gram)
and psilocin (one gram). Those weight limits do not include any material that
the active substances are attached to or part of.
* The penalty for possession of amounts of up to double the limit would be a
$100 civil fine, with amounts above that remaining criminalized.
* A Natural Psychedelic Substances Commission would be created to oversee the
implementation of the law and licensing of service centers and facilitators.
* The body, which is modeled on the state’s existing Cannabis Control
Commission, would be required to enact rules for regulated access of at least
one psychedelic by April 1, 2026. Regulations for the rest of the substances
would need to be created by April 1, 2028. It would also need to start
accepting applications by September 30, 2026.
* A Natural Psychedelic Substances Advisory Board would “study and make
recommendations” to the commission about issues such as public health,
regulations, training for facilitators, affordable and equitable access,
traditional use of psychedelics and future rules, including possible
additions to the list of legal substances.
* Psychedelics purchased at licensed facilities would be subject to a 15
percent excise tax, and localities would have the option of imposing an
additional two percent tax if they permit the centers to operate in their
area. Revenue would be used to fund regulation of the program.
* There are no provisions on expunging prior convictions for activities that
would be made legal.
* Local governments could enact regulations on the time, location and manner of
service centers, but they could not outright ban them from operating in their
area.
* Adults could propagate psychedelics in a maximum 12X12 ft. space.
* There would be civil legal protections related to professional licensure,
child custody and public benefits for people who participate in a legalized
psychedelic activity.
* The effective date of the law would be December 15, 2024. The commission and
advisory board would need to be created by March 1, 2025.
—
Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,400 cannabis, psychedelics and drug
policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters
pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and
hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to
get access.
—
The campaign first filed two different psychedelics reform initiatives in
August, and after the state attorney general determined that they both met the
constitutional requirement for ballot placement the following months, activists
decided to pursue the version that included a home cultivation option.
Eight cities across Massachusetts have enacted policies to locally deprioritize
enforcement of laws against psychedelics, an effort that has been led by
BSNM: Salem, Somerville, Cambridge, Easthampton, Northampton, Amherst, Provincetown and Medford.
Meanwhile, a different Massachusetts legislative committee advanced a bill in
February that would legalize psilocybin therapy in the Commonwealth and set up a
framework to license facilitators who would supervise medical, therapeutic and
spiritual applications of the drug.
Separately, Gov. Maura Healy (D) in January drew attention to testimony around a
veterans-focused bill that she’s introduced to create a psychedelics work group
that would study the therapeutic potential of substances such as psilocybin.
Another bill would authorize the Department of Public Health to conduct a
comprehensive study into the potential therapeutic effects of synthetic
psychedelics like MDMA.
Rep. Mike Connolly (D) also filed a bill in 2021 that received a Joint Judiciary
Committee hearing on studying the implications of legalizing entheogenic
substances like psilocybin and ayahuasca.
> Biden Should Release People In Prison For Marijuana, Criminal Defense Lawyers
> Group Tells White House
Image courtesy of Kristie Gianopulos.
Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our
cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon
pledge.
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