Marijuana Moment: Massachusetts Lawmakers Approve Bills To Create Psychedelic Therapy Pilot Programs

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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.

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Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

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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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