The Medford City Council approved a resolution supporting Question 4, the psychedelic ballot question seeking to address the mental health crisis in Massachusetts 

BOSTON, MA, August 15th, 2024 – Tuesday night, Medford became the third Massachusetts city to pass a resolution to support Question 4 on the November ballot, the “Natural Psychedelic Substances Act,” that would approve and regulate psychedelic-assisted therapy in Massachusetts. Medford City Council President Isaac B “Zac” Bears introduced the resolution.

“The research behind psychedelic-assisted therapy is more than promising, they have immense potential to treat treatment resistant depression, PTSD, and anxiety,” Council President Bears said. “Medford supports the advocacy veterans, first-responders, and end-of-life patients have done to bring this care to Massachusetts.”

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. 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.

Question 4 would allow adults 21 years 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.