All About Question 4: Legalizing Natural Psychedelics

A New Drug on The Horizon

Much like marijuana back in 2016, magic mushrooms and similar substances have made

their way onto the ballot for partial legalization this fall. How Mass. citizens vote on Question 4
will decide on a proposition that could bring about great reform in the war on drugs, modern
medicine, and fiscal policy.

While Mass. is a very open-minded state with progressive ideas like this one, should and
will this ballot measure be passed?

A Potential Breakthrough in Medicine

"MA for Mental Health" is the primary entity behind Question 4—formally known as "The

Natural Psychedelic Substances Act". The initiative advertises itself as wanting to create change
in the psychiatric industry by allowing magic mushrooms and other compounds that are
endogenous to psychedelic plants to be used in therapeutic settings: centers that will be opened
up in Mass. upon the passing of the ballot measure. Although still controversial, MA for Mental
Health is right in its claims that magic mushrooms have shown promise in treating a variety of
psychological conditions such as PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and mood disorders
like depression.

The Research and Science

For the purposes of this article, psilocybin (SY-loh-SY-bin) will be the main natural psychedelic compound discussed. However, there are several other types, as mentioned earlier, such as psilocin and DMT. But anyway, onto the research.

Johns Hopkins University has a whole ward dedicated to researching the effects of
psychedelics. Its studies have long supported the idea that psilocybin treatment helps major
depressive disorder (MDD) (it increases the levels of serotonin-related activity in the brains of
those who use them). It has recently been shown that dosing within the lab mitigates the
symptoms of depression for up to a year. The severity of symptoms declined through the study:
"Depressive symptoms were measured before and after treatment using the GRID-Hamilton
Depression Rating Scale... scores for the overall treatment decreased from 22.8 at pretreatment
to 8.7 at one week, 8.9 at four weeks, 9.3 at three months, 7 at six months, and 7.7 at 12
months after treatment." Some even had complete remission (cessation of symptoms) after the
trials concluded.

Veterans have also given positive feedback on the substantial life improvement that
psilocybin has given them. It allowed them to explore their trauma within a contained setting. A
combat veteran named Christopher shared that he "knows people personally who suffer from
PTSD and they've described naturally good benefits from the use of them." He also has used it
himself and reported positive effects on the psyche.

The Drawbacks

There is a lot of debate within the psychiatric community about whether using

psychedelic compounds does more harm than good. For instance, while some retired soldiers
have reported a net positive, others have reported quite the opposite. Because of the intense
visual nature of magic mushrooms, they can take one back to the scene of their trauma and
cause them to re-experience the situation, leading to severe distress.

The combat veteran Christopher also reports negative physical side effects that run
alongside the usage of psilocybin, stating, "It can hike your blood pressure up, nausea,
vomiting, etc."

It also runs the risk of mania in people who have bipolar disorder. Serotonin is one of the
driving factors of mood in people with the condition, so increasing related activity in the brain
can raise the floor.

In a study performed by Morton, E., Sakai, K., Ashtari, A., Pleet, M., Michalak, E. E., &

Woolley, J. in 2022, people on the "bipolar spectrum" (varying types of bipolar disorder) who
used psilocybin, mania was one of the most common side effects: "New or increasing manic
symptoms were the most common side effect (14.2%; n=77), followed by difficulties falling or
staying asleep (10.4%; n=56)." It is important to note that more than half of these participants
were already on psychotropic medication during this study.

In addition, a lot of people with "depression" are bipolar in reality yet aren't aware since
they haven't experienced a manic episode. The way many of them find out is by trying an SSRI
or SNRI antidepressant, which sends them into such an episode. Psilocybin will have a similar
effect.

Possession, Cultivation, and Gifting

Let's get to the elephant in the room of this bill: it legalizes the possession, cultivation, and gifting of natural psychedelic substances.

Although the NIH states that "use of psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin and LSD,
does not typically lead to addiction", they are still classified as Schedule I federally, and
treatment using them is not FDA-approved. This is probably why the bill does not call for
MassHealth to cover treatment using them. Also, given the hallucinogenic effects, situations of
public intoxication and DUI unfortunately do come into play.

To try and mitigate the risks, there is a provision within the bill that only makes it legal for
people 21 years of age or older to possess, cultivate, or gift the substance, reducing the
chances of reckless use. The ballot measure also does not allow for retail stores for these kinds
of substances, meaning access will still be somewhat limited.

And we see examples of how this has played out previously in states like Oregon and
Colorado, which have moved to legalize. Following close behind, cities in Mass. such as
Somerville, Cambridge, and good ol' Salem passed ordinances to essentially decriminalize.
In an article by WCVB, Salem Mass. Chief of Police backed this deprioritization, stating that,
"his department has made about five arrests for psilocybin over the last ten years and in each
instance, there was another charge involved in the case".

But in all, it no longer criminalizes the use of this substance.

Get Out and Vote!

That is all this article will entail for the sake of space and time. Now, go out and do your own research! This bill has several other factors, such as the 15% excise tax on medical

center transactions. But on Nov. 5 or whenever you go out to vote, don't forget to fill in one of
the bubbles on Question 4!