Should psychedelic drugs be decriminalized in Mass.? Advocates see opening

Somerville in January became the first jurisdiction in Massachusetts to move toward decriminalizing plant-based psychedelic drugs, with city leaders voting unanimously to recognize the medical uses of natural entheogens — including psilocybin, the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms” — and make them among the lowest enforcement priorities for local police.

Fresh off that victory, advocates for decriminalizing such drugs are now bringing their fight to Beacon Hill.

State Representative Mike Connolly, whose district includes large swaths of Somerville and Cambridge and who has been working with the reformers, told the Globe he is planning to file a preliminary bill that would create a committee of public officials, scientists, criminal justice experts, and others to study whether Massachusetts should decriminalize natural psychedelics and legalize their administration in therapeutic settings statewide.