Massachusetts Lawmakers Approve Bill To Create Psychedelic Therapy Pilot Program

Massachusetts lawmakers have approved a bill to establish a pilot program
for the regulated therapeutic use of psychedelics.

The pilot program proposal from Sen. Cindy Friedman (D) advanced through
the legislature’s Joint Committee on Health Care Financing on Thursday.
It’s now been referred to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing for
further consideration.

The measure is one of two pieces of legislation on the issue that are set
to be taken up at a hearing before a different committee in November.

The bill, S.1400, is light on specifics, leaving many details of the pilot
program up to regulators with the Department of Public Health (DPH). But in
general, it calls for a “pilot program to allow for the monitored mental
health care of clinically appropriate patients using psychedelic materials.”

It would involve the “on-site administration by a multi-disciplinary care
team in a supervised licensed mental health clinic setting.”

DPH could only issue licenses for up to three health facilities to
administer and study the psychedelics in the state. They would be tasked
with “establishing the best and safest clinical practices for psychedelic
mental health treatment programs in the commonwealth and for the purposes
of collecting patient outcomes data regarding the benefits of psychedelic
pharmacotherapy.”

“Eligible pilot program organizations must exclusively focus operations and
treatment on mental health and cannot be subsidiaries, affiliates or
members of cannabis industry organizations, psychedelic molecule
development companies or pharmaceutical companies,” the bill text states.

The department would be required to develop rules for the program,
including setting standards for people to apply to participate, patient
assessments and ongoing monitoring, clinical staffing and the
administration of psychedelic medicines.

“All pilot program participant organizations must track patient care
outcomes data related to the identification, diagnosis and psychedelic
treatment of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and
substance use disorder,” it says. “These data sets must be shared with the
department to assist in the refinement of best clinical protocols and final
regulatory frameworks for the safe use of psychedelic material in
Massachusetts.”

The bill, as well as a separate measure to provide a more limited pilot
program for psilocybin therapy alone, will also be the focus of a hearing
on November 10 before the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use
and Recovery.

The advocacy group Mass Healing is encouraging interested parties to
prepare testimony for the hearing, “with testimony in support of H.4200
tailored to emphasize the benefits of psychedelics *other* than
psilocybin.” H.4200 is the companion version of the broader psychedelic
bill that moved through committee on Thursday.

While multiple cities across the state have enacted local psychedelics
decriminalization initiatives, voters rejected a statewide ballot measure
last year that would have legalized substances such as psilocybin, ibogaine
and DMT for adults.

Ahead of that vote, the governor of Massachusetts signed a military
veterans-focused bill that includes provisions to create a psychedelics
working group to study and make recommendations about the potential
therapeutic benefits of substances like psilocybin and MDMA.

More recently, the Joint Committee on the Judiciary in July held a hearing
on four of 12 psychedelics-related bills that were filed for this session,
with the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society (MPS) endorsing one that would
decriminalize certain entheogenic substances.


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Meanwhile in Massachusetts, the state attorney general recently certified
and prepared summaries for dozens of proposed 2026 ballot
initiatives—including a pair that would roll back adult-use marijuana
legalization in the state.

Regulators are also working to finalize rules to allow for a new cannabis
consumption lounge license type, which they hope to complete by October.

The legislature’s Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy last month approved
bills to provide employment protections for marijuana consumers and expand
the state’s medical cannabis program, in part by adding post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) and opioid use disorder to the list of qualifying
conditions.

State lawmakers have also been considering setting tighter restrictions on
intoxicating hemp-derived products and a plan to allow individual entities
to control a larger number of cannabis establishments.

*Photo elements courtesy of carlosemmaskype and Apollo.*

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Pilot Program appeared first on Marijuana Moment.