Massachusetts Lawmakers Approve Bills To Create Psychedelic Therapy Pilot Programs

Massachusetts lawmakers have approved a pair of psychedelics bills that
would create pilot programs allowing eligible patients to access novel
treatments such as psilocybin, with the intent to gather information to
inform best clinical practices and prepare for potential broader, regulated
availability.

Members of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery
passed the legislation—H.2203 and H.4200 from Reps. Marjorie Decker (D) and
James O’Day (D), respectively—on Wednesday. Both measures advanced in 9-3
votes.

Decker’s bill focuses on psilocybin therapy, requiring the Department of
Public Health (DPH) to establish a pilot program where patients 21 and
older with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and
end-of-life anxiety could receive the psychedelic in a clinical setting at
authorized mental health, hospice, veterans administration and other
community services facilities.

University researchers would also be involved, tasked with supervising and
analyzing the results of the innovative treatment initiative that would
follow regulatory pathways approved by the federal Food and Drug
Administration (FDA).

Only psilocybin could be administered under the program—unlike the separate
bill from O’Day that would broadly permit treatment with “psychedelic
materials” defined by DPH—but its scale and intent are more expansive in
other ways.

Specifically, DHS would be required to “establish professional standards
for regulated psychedelic use and criteria for participation in the pilot,
including the number of universities that may participate in the pilot,”
and “preference shall be given to universities within the Commonwealth’s
public university system.”

“The department shall develop local training and certification frameworks
for psilocybin facilitators to sustain capacity beyond the pilot’s
conclusion,” the bill text says, adding that local pilots “shall collect
and provide data relevant to potential coverage for the cost of
psilocybin-assisted therapy, as determined by the department.”

Within one year of the effective date of the law, which requires the pilot
program to operate for at least two years, DHS would need to submit a a
peer-reviewed report to the legislature that includes “a study of the
statewide efficacy of the pilot, including local community impacts and the
feasibility of coverage for psilocybin-assisted therapy under MassHealth,
consistent with any applicable federal guidelines.”

The bill from O’Day, meanwhile, would also create a psychedelics pilot
program in the Commonwealth—but it would be designed to prioritize data
collection on best practices in the clinical administration of
psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Under the legislation, only three clinics could receive permits from DPH to
administer “psychedelic materials,” as defined by the department, to
patients with depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance use disorder (SUD) and
other “clinically appropriate” conditions.

A multi-disciplinary team, overseen by a licensed physician, would be
involved in the psychedelic pilot at each of the clinics, which would need
DPS approval to operate “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,” the bill says. And it notably contains
provisions stipulating that the pilots “cannot be subsidiaries, affiliates
or members of cannabis industry organizations, psychedelic molecule
development companies or pharmaceutical companies.”

“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. 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.”

O’Day said ahead of the joint committee vote that, “as someone in long-term
recovery, it’s my opinion that any move towards the use of psychedelics in
Massachusetts should focus exclusively on mental health and SUD treatment.”

He also stressed that “it’s important the regulation should be free from
the influence of the cannabis and pharmaceutical industries.”

Mass Healing, a non-profit focused on psychedelic policy and education
that’s backing both reform measures, celebrated their committee passage on
Thursday. The organization helped coordinated with impacted
individuals—including an Army veteran and Harvard University researcher,
Rita Graham—to testify in support of the proposals in committee.

“I sit before you as a veteran and one of the first women to serve in
combat arms positions. I’m also a former social worker and now a policy
advocate working at the intersection of trauma and healing,” Graham said.
“I’ve spent years as a researcher and a survivor of sexual violence, which
is one of the most pervasive, yet ignored wounds of military service.”

“Healing veterans heals communities, and Massachusetts has the opportunity
to lead that change,” she said.

Wednesday’s votes come months after members of the state legislature’s Joint
Committee on Public Health approved separate psychedelics reform measures,
including one to create a regulatory framework for psilocybin and another
that would legalize the use of the psychedelic by veterans, law enforcement
and first responders.

A Senate bill to create a psilocybin therapy pilot program, sponsored by
Sen. Cindy Friedman (D), also advanced through the committee process last
year.


*— Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug
policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon
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While multiple cities across Massachusetts 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 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.

Meanwhile, the legislature’s Joint Committee on the Judiciary last July held
a hearing on four of 12 psychedelics-related bills that were filed for in
the 2025 session, with the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society (MPS)
endorsing one that would decriminalize certain entheogenic substances.

*Photo courtesy of Dick Culbert.*

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