05 Feb Cambridge Joins Oregon and Cities Decriminalizing Psychedelics

In a slowly growing national trend, on February 3, Cambridge, MA, the home of Harvard University, moved to decriminalize a group of psychedelics. Thus Cambridge joins the cities of Somerville, MA (which acted last month), Oakland and Santa Cruz in CA and Ann Arbor, MI, along with the State of Oregon (voters in November approved legalizing psilocybin mushrooms and decriminalized other drugs) and Washington, DC (by 76% in favor in a referendum in November), in adopting similar measures. In addition, on February 4, New Jersey Gov. Murphy (D) signed a bill significantly reducing criminal penalties for possession of psilocybin.

The Cambridge action, by vote of 9-1 of the City Council, went further than many municipalities by suggesting the police should consider ending arrests for all illicit drugs. The measure focused on entheogenic plants and fungi like ayahuasca, ibogaine and psilocybin mushrooms, declaring them among the lowest enforcement priorities. It has also been reported that Massachusetts state legislators are looking at a possible state-wide decriminalization action. As the parent of a Harvard student, I am pleased to see this attack on the War on Drugs move closer to home, though those under 21 should not be permitted to possess or use these products. The fact that the East Coast is beginning to follow its typically more progressive friends out West is indeed significant. And a number of advocacy groups are stepping up their efforts along the Atlantic. Meanwhile Marijuana Moment reports that states including California, New York, Virginia, Washington and other states may move towards some action in the space as well.

Ultimately it is likely that we will see more action from companies seeking to conduct clinical research on the use of psychedelics, or synthetic equivalents, primarily to treat or cure mental illness. Decriminalization will be less important for these therapeutic uses as they will seek and hopefully obtain FDA approval as federally legal drugs. In fact, the FDA already has fast tracked or provided “breakthrough therapy” status for a number of these trials, showing support for the effort. FDA officials recently suggested a more updated approach to research, which had started in the 1970s and 1980s but had dried up before the new recent surge in activity. That said, the decriminalization efforts to allow recreational users (along with those using these plants for therapy) to avoid criminal prosecution are a great positive step.

Updated 2/6/2016 to add New Jersey info.