Promise, fears at State House psychedelics hearing
Move made to decriminalize
Psychedelics such as psilocybin found in “magic mushrooms” have helped people heal from trauma, recover from addiction, and treat chronic pain, but opponents of a ballot question to decriminalize the substances say there is not enough research for them to be widely available.”
A flood of supporters came to a public hearing at the State House on Tuesday, sharing stories with the legislative committee tasked with reviewing the field of proposed 2024 ballot questions about how using psychedelics such as psilocybin, which appears in “magic mushrooms,” peyote, ibogaine, and MDMA have helped them overcome the darkest moments of their lives.
Those who support the 39page Natural Psychedelic Substances Act (H 4255), which would decriminalize personal use of the drugs and create a regulatory framework to make the substances available in “therapeutic settings through a regulated and taxed system,” range from veterans to survivors of sexual abuse and people who have long suffered from mental illness.
One testifier said two therapeutic sessions using psilocybin helped him process sexual abuse he experienced as a child and realize the assault had affected him well into his adult life.
“And it wasn’t my fault. That abuse was not my fault,” he said.
He’d like to do another session, and his therapist recommended doing so, but he said he’s afraid to while there is no “safe and legal program.”
Emily Oneschuk, a veteran and the first woman candidate for the Navy Seals, said a weeklong psilocybin retreat in Jamaica with other women veterans was a turning point in addressing her PTSD and depression.
Oneschuk directs “Massachusetts for Mental Health Options,” the local name for the D.C.-based PAC called New Approach, which successfully pushed similar psychedelic ballot questions in Oregon and Colorado.
After she was honorably discharged from the military, Oneschuk said she quickly realized the resources available to her through Veterans Affairs were not enough to help her address the trauma she experienced both from service and her brother’s recent death.
“It didn’t seem to matter what I did, where I went, who I was with. The vivacious, caring person I had always loved being was gone, and I didn’t know if she’d ever come back,” Oneschuk said.
After other treatments failed, she turned to The Hope Project, which connects female veterans and wives of servicemembers who died overseas to “psychedelic healing journeys.”
“I was finally able to feel and process the depth of my pain in a way I couldn’t do anywhere else,” Oneschuk said. “I left Jamaica with a glimmer of hope that I hadn’t had in years. Psychedelics did not magically solve all my problems. But they were the key to unlocking parts of my brain and self that I couldn’t access before. And once these parts were unlocked, I could finally feel the anger I had been pushing down for so long and admit to myself that I had been hurt. Psychedelics let me take off the armor that had been protecting me and finally reengaged with the joyful, peaceful parts of myself I had become so distant from.”
Several other veterans and first responders also testified in favor of the ballot question on Tuesday, saying psychedelics helped them address PTSD where other treatments failed.
Peter Lakov, a software engineer and father of two daughters, said a psilocybin session helped him quit smoking cold turkey after 20 years of addiction.
“I had tried multiple times to quit smoking, and every time I had to apply really strong willpower to persist for weeks or months, or in some cases, a year of not smoking. It took a lot of willpower ... after that one session, it felt like smoking just didn’t matter anymore. Like there was a hole in me before, and that hole doesn’t exist anymore,” he said.
Lakov told lawmakers about driving his daughters to birthday parties and his many years working as an engineer to “thwart any stereotypes or preconceived notions you may have about who supporters or users of psychedelics might be.”
“I’m basically a regular dad,” he said.
Despite the dozens of personal stories of how the drugs have helped some, lawmakers also heard stark warnings Tuesday against making them more accessible.
Dr. Nassir Ghaemi, a professor of psychiatry at Tufts Medical Center and the incoming president of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, said psychedelics can be dangerous for people with certain mental health conditions and worried about widespread use without enough research or education.
For people with psychotic diseases like schizophrenia or bipolar illness, psychedelics can trigger psychosis or manic episodes, Ghaemi said.