{"id":68862,"date":"2023-09-27T08:40:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T16:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/09\/27\/massachusetts-activists-pursue-psychedelics-legalization-initiative-with-home-grow-after-polling-two-versions\/"},"modified":"2023-09-27T19:46:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T03:46:20","slug":"massachusetts-activists-pursue-psychedelics-legalization-initiative-with-home-grow-after-polling-two-versions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/09\/27\/massachusetts-activists-pursue-psychedelics-legalization-initiative-with-home-grow-after-polling-two-versions\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts Activists Pursue Psychedelics Legalization Initiative With Home Grow After Polling Two Versions"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A Massachusetts campaign to put psychedelics legalization on the 2024 ballot has decided to pursue a version of the initiative that would allow for home cultivation.<\/p>\n

About a month after the state attorney general\u2019s office cleared two versions of the proposal from Massachusetts for Mental Health Options<\/a>, the campaign says it\u2019s made a decision to go with the slightly more expansive iteration.<\/p>\n

The only difference between Version A and Version B is that the former would let adults grow their own entheogenic plants and fungi. They\u2019re otherwise identical. The choice to go with Version A was partly informed by internal polling that the campaign, supported by the national New Approach PAC, financed, as Psychedelic Week first reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to pass the most expansive policies that create as safe access to psychedelics as possible\u2014that is viable and that voters will approve,\u201d Jared Moffat, a spokesperson for New Approach, told Marijuana Moment on Tuesday. \u201cWe had lots of conversations with local coalition partners, and I think all of us agreed that the best policy would be to have more expansive protections for home cultivation.\u201d<\/p>\n

An initial poll that the campaign funded came back with worrisome results, Moffat said during a coalition Zoom call last week. It showed support starting below 50 percent, though respondents\u2019 views warmed up somewhat after they were given additional information about the reform\u2019s intent and effects.<\/p>\n

The campaign then did another round of polling with expanded explanations of the proposed reforms, and Moffat said that highlighting the \u201crationale behind these initiatives\u201d led to \u201cmuch, much stronger\u201d support that indicated \u201cit is possible to win with both of these initiatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moffat told Marijuana Moment that polling home cultivation as a standalone policy did reveal that the campaign will need to prioritize eduction on that issue, as some voters had difficulties \u201cwrapping their head around\u201d the concept.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you single it out and focus attention on it, there\u2019s an effect there,\u201d he said. But with comprehensive explanations of both versions of the full initiative, the campaign \u201cdidn\u2019t see a lot of difference\u201d in the poll results.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s great news because it means that we can go with a more expansive policy, and as long as we do our job in explaining what the ballot initiative is all about and what it does and we\u2019re clear in our communication, then we have a good shot of passing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The measure that they will now focus on in signature gathering would create a regulatory framework for lawful and supervised access to psychedelics at licensed facilities. It would also legalize the possession and gifting of psychedelics such as psilocybin and ayahuasca, but it would not otherwise provide for commercial retail sales of the substances.<\/p>\n

Here are the key details of the Natural Psychedelic Substances Act:<\/strong><\/p>\n