DECEMBER 7, 2023
BOSTON - Voters in Massachusetts may get to vote to legalize Magic Mushrooms next year. Supporters of the use of psychedelics for treatment of PTSD, depression and other mental disorders said this week they have enough signatures to allow for a ballot question in 2024.
If approved, people suffering from anxiety, depression and PTSD will be able to use mushrooms with psilocybin for treatment. Petitions to be on the ballot need 74,000 signitures. The Massachusetts for Mental Health Options campaign is submitting a petition with more than 95,000 signatures for certification.
This year, America's first licensed psilocybin service center opened in Oregon. It had a waitlist of more than 3,000 people with conditions like depression and PTSD.
Colorado voters passed a law in 2022 allowing regulated use of magic mushrooms starting in 2024. The California Legislature passed a bill this fall that would have decriminalized several hallucinogens including psychedelic mushrooms, but is was vetoed by Governor Newson.
The vetoed legislation would have allowed those 21 and older to possess psilocybin, the hallucinogenic component in what’s known as psychedelic mushrooms. It also would have covered dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and mescaline.
The bill would not have legalized the sale of the substances and would have barred any possession of the substances on school grounds. Instead, it would have ensured people are neither arrested nor prosecuted for possessing limited amounts of plant-based hallucinogens.
Newsom, a Democrat who championed legalizing cannabis in 2016, said in a statement that more needs to be done before California decriminalizes the hallucinogens.
