A Massachusetts campaign seeking to legalize psychedelics has collected enough valid signatures to force the legislature to vote on their initiative.
Dried psilocybin.
The nonprofit political committee Massachusetts for Mental Health Options says it has verified over 75,000 signatures from registered voters, more than the 74,574 needed to force the state’s legislature to consider the proposal. The initiative would “expand mental health treatment options in Massachusetts by providing new pathways to access natural psychedelic medicine therapy”, including “creating access to natural psychedelic medicine therapy and removing criminal penalties for personal possession of these medicines.”
Once the state verified the signatures, the legislature will be given until May 1 to approve or reject the initiative. If they choose the latter, Massachusetts for Mental Health Options will have until July 3 to submit an additional 12.4k signatures in order to place the measure on the November, 2024 general election ballot.
The proposed law would legalize the possession and personal cultivation of up to one gram of DMT, 18 grams of non-peyote mescaline, 30 grams of Ibogaine, one gram of psilocybin and one gram of psilocin.
The law would allow licensed service centers to supply psychedelics, overseen by a newly-created Natural Psychedelic Substances Commission (modeled after the state’s Cannabis Control Commission),
Psychedelics under the initiative would be subject to a 15% excise tax. The initiative would take effect on December 15, 2024, with the commission formed by March 1, 2025.
In Massachusetts six different cities have passed ordinances decriminalizing the possession of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms. Salem was the most recent in May, joining Cambridge, Somerville, Easthampton, Northhampton and Amherst.
