Last Thursday, the Somerville City Council passed a resolution to support the “Natural Psychedelic Substances Act,” a question on the November ballot that would bring psychedelic-assisted therapy to Massachusetts. Councilor Willie Burnley Jr. introduced the resolution.

“In the midst of this national mental health crisis, we have a duty to offer our neighbors’ the best resources possible to improve and save their lives.” Councilor Willie Burnley Jr. said, “I’m proud to stand up on behalf of Somerville to ensure that Massachusetts veterans, residents, and patients have access to vitally needed mental health treatments.”

MMHO educational outreach director Graham Moore, who addressed city councilors before the vote and who lost his best friend to suicide in Somerville in 2013, shared, “I am eternally grateful to Councilor Burnley and his colleagues for standing up for veterans, hospice patients, and others suffering severe distress by endorsing compassionate and commonsense reform.”

The current options for treating mental health issues are limited and often aren’t helpful to veterans with PTSD and patients confronting end-of-life anxiety. Veterans are facing a PTSD crisis, as more than 6,000 veterans die by suicide each year and countless more struggle with the trauma from their service. Current laws and medical practice allow dying patients to access medications for physical pain but offer little to address the mental suffering that is part of an end-of-life diagnosis.

This ballot question would allow adults 21 and older to access natural psychedelic substances whose tremendous therapeutic potential in mental health has been attested to by leading medical research institutions such as Mass General and Johns Hopkins. In fact, the FDA recently called psilocybin a “breakthrough therapy” for treatment-resistant depression – meaning that it may demonstrate a substantial improvement over what’s currently available. Many veterans suffering from PTSD have found healing and help with natural psychedelic medicines where other treatments have failed. Retail sales will not be permitted through this ballot question.

About Massachusetts for Mental Health Options

Massachusetts for Mental Health Options is dedicated to advocating for accessible, innovative mental health treatments. Our coalition supports the establishment of a therapeutic framework that recognizes the potential of psychedelic medicine to heal and transform lives. Please visit https://maformentalhealth.org/ for more information.

— Massachusetts for Mental Health Options