Massachusetts Lawmakers Discuss Bill To Create Psychedelics Legalization Task Force At Hearing

Massachusetts lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday about a task force bill that is charged with Studying the effects of legalizing psychedelics like psilocybin and ayahuasca.

The Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee met to discuss Rep. Mike Connolly (D) legislation. Although members did not vote on the proposal, the sponsor was able to advocate reform and note emerging research suggesting that entheogenic substances have significant therapeutic potential for certain mental illnesses.

He also referred to the local reform movement that has so far led three Massachusetts cities to decriminalize psychedelics, saying it was “another reason why bringing stakeholders together and talking about them like that should be a priority for all of us Politics should look like. ”

“We hear from the medical community, we hear from clinicians and researchers, that the potential benefits here simply cannot be ignored,” Connolly said. “There are these problems like PTSD and depression, anxiety and addiction that we struggle with, and research tells us that these substances are tremendously beneficial.”

The 21-person task force proposed by the legislature is to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of “legalizing the possession, consumption, transport and distribution of naturally grown entheogenic plants and mushrooms”.

The sponsor said Tuesday that the group “could really enable Massachusetts to play a leading role in developing guidelines around these substances.”

In an email to Marijuana Moment, Connolly said the momentum for broader psychedelic and drug policy reform in states across the country shows that “our proposal to create a task force to develop guidelines on legalization is rational and is justified “.

“Given our status as a long-time pioneer in civil rights, liberty, academic research and advances in medicine,” he said, “it is important for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to proactively develop guidelines to ensure this is a movement for people Psychedelics legalization continues – and as clinical trials demonstrating the therapeutic value of these drugs continue to pile up – we are moving forward in just, equitable, and inclusive ways. “

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Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan also testified in front of the reform proposal committee on Tuesday.

The nascent psychedelic reform movement was largely limited to decriminalization, with the exception of Oregon, where voters were elected Legalization of psilocybin for therapeutic use in last year’s election. Californian activists are also pushing into place Psilocybin legalization on the state’s 2022 ballot working as a legislator to pass a separate bill legalize possession of a wide range of psychedelics this has already been passed by the regional senate and two assembly committees.

While the Massachusetts legislation If only one task force were to be set up to investigate the possible legalization of these substances, this is another significant development that shows how local reforms have drawn the attention of state lawmakers.

Connolly said on Tuesday Listen that it is important to remember “that it was the Nixon administration in the 1970s that classified entheogens as List I substances with no real scientific basis. It had more to do with politics – it had more to do with systemic racism – that led to this classification and this criminalization. “

“When you hear some of the professionals, some of the researchers talk about it today, they really feel like we have lost several decades of potential therapeutic benefit because of these arbitrary political choices,” he said. “With this task force, we in Massachusetts really have an opportunity to bring policymakers and stakeholders together to ensure that as research progresses, we are ready with appropriate guidelines. So don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. “.”

Legislators said that “the war on drugs, racial injustice and years of oppression here in our country” have partially motivated the introduction of its legislation.

The task force would “bring together stakeholders from academia, public safety, racial justice, harm reduction, indigenous peoples, social work, relevant regulators and medical communities to make recommendations on the legalization and possession, use and distribution of entheogenic substances.” he said.

Three cities in MassachusettsNorthampton, Somerville and Cambridge– Have each passed resolutions to prioritize the enforcement of laws against the possession, use and distribution of a wide range of psychedelics and other drugs.

“I am proud to represent Somerville and Cambridge, two communities that have decriminalized the possession of psychedelics and entheogenic schemes in recent months, largely as part of the larger movement that continues to work to reverse the racist effects of the war on drugs make. Connolly said marijuana moment.

Should its bill pass, the 21-person task force would have until June 2022 to study the effects of plant and mushroom-based psychedelic substances and develop recommendations for legalizing the substances “in a manner that is fair and accessible sustainable production of “maximizes these plants.”

Particular attention would be paid under the bill to the effects of the drug ban on marginalized groups, “including indigenous peoples, veterans, people with physical and mental disabilities, black people, people of Latin and Hispanic origins, people of Asian descent, people”. Color, people in poverty and people who identify with the LGBTQ community. “

The measure also requires the Task Force to develop recommendations on “pardon, probation, diversion, suspension and justice measures” for those with a criminal record for possessing or distributing controlled substances.

The developments in Massachusetts are some of the latest developments in a national psychedelic reform movement that has since spread Denver was the first city to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms in 2019.

Besides the cities in Massachusetts there are four more –Oakland, Santa Cruz, Ann Arbor and Washington, DC– Have also decriminalized possession of plant and mushroom-based psychedelics.

A Arcata, California City council member announced this month that she would support a measure to decriminalize psychedelics. This measure has since been referred to a committee.

The Connecticut governor recently signed law containing a language that the state must comply with a study on the therapeutic potential of psilocybin mushrooms.

Texas also recently passed a bill to challenge the state Investigate the medical benefits of psychedelics for military veterans.

A New York lawmaker tabled a bill last month that would oblige the state to set up a similar institute explore the medicinal value of psychedelics.

In Oakland, the first city where a city council voted to make the criminalization of entheogenic substances largely a priority, lawmakers have agreed to a follow-up resolution in December, calling for policy change to be adopted nationwide and for local jurisdictions to allow healing ceremonies where people can use psychedelics.

After Ann Arbor legislators passed a decriminalization resolution last year, a district attorney recently announced that his office will not bring charges about the possession of entheogenic plants and mushrooms – “regardless of the disputed amount”.

Aspen, Colorado City Council discussed the therapeutic potential of psychedelics like psilocybin and proposals to decriminalize such substances at a meeting in May. However, members said that passing a reform would be better handled at the federal level, while entheogens would be tightly controlled by the federal government.

Seattle lawmakers also recently sent a letter to members of a local task force focused on the opioid overdose epidemic, urging the group to investigate the therapeutic potential of psychedelics like ayahuasca and ibogaine in curbing addiction.

The psychedelics discussion is also finding favor at the federal level.

The US House of Representatives will vote on it this week a proposal by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) removing an expense account tab that proponents say federal funding for research into List I drugs, including psychedelics like psilocybin, MDMA, and ibogaine, is limited.

In 2019, a large majority of the members of the Democratic House joined in all but seven Republicans. on a vote against an earlier version of the Congressman’s amendment. But given the surge in government and local reform efforts for psychedelics in the years that followed, it stands to reason that this time around this Congress should take the issue more seriously.

Federal health authorities should explore the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for military veterans suffering from a variety of mental illnesses, says a report attached to separate spending legislation that is part of an advancing minibus package.

With a view to broader drug policy reform, Oregon voters also approved an initiative in November to decriminalize possession of all drugs. This year the Maine House of Representatives A law decriminalizing drugs passed, but later died in the Senate.

Last month the legislature passed the in Congress First ever federal decriminalization of property legislation of illegal substances.

The White House has refused to blame marijuana sales for the rise in violent crime, despite comments from the DC Police Chief

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia / mushroom observer.