Massachusetts Communities Reject Drug Profiteers’ Latest Push for Psychedelics
(BOSTON, MA) – Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS) President Dr. Kevin Sabet, a former White House drug policy advisor to President Obama, released the following statement today after Massachusetts voted to reject Question 4, which would have legalized for-profit psychedelic centers and the growth and distribution of homegrown psychedelics throughout the Commonwealth:
“Today is a tremendous victory for public health and safety in Massachusetts that will hopefully have national implications. The addiction industry has shown it will stop at nothing to hook a new generation of users on increasingly dangerous drugs, all under the guise of ‘medicine,’ but Bay Staters wisely said ‘no.’
“Question 4 was never about providing health benefits to patients in need. It was about fueling the latest trendy drug to drive profits for the addiction industry, regardless of the harm to the public. That was evidenced by industry messaging that relied on flawed, biased, and incomplete research. Several big studies have in fact demonstrated that a placebo fared just as well as these potentially dangerous psychoactive drugs. Shoddy science created to help drive industry profits was one of the chief reasons the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected the new drug application by drug company Lykos (formerly known as MAPS) earlier this year.
“Despite being outspent by an order of magnitude, our coalition worked hard to educate voters on the harms of psychedelics and the dangers of an unregulated drug marketplace and unfettered home grow program. Our partners at the Coalition for Safe Communities, all the parents, members of law enforcement, and community leaders should be tremendously proud of the work they did to turn away this predatory industry. Today, voters made it clear that they want science and medical experts to be the catalyst of drug policy, not the addiction industry’s drive to make billions in profit while risking the health and safety of the public.”