Mason Marks

An op-ed by Mason Marks: Public and scientific interest in psychedelics such as psilocybin and MDMA is expanding. Once off-limits because of federal prohibition, a trickle of research from the 1990s has grown into a stream. But despite increasing acceptance by the public, and commercial investment in psychedelic therapies, aging federal laws stem the flow of vital research. Psilocybin, a compound produced by many species of fungi, is one of the most well-studied psychedelics. To acknowledge its impressive safety record and potential for treating depression more effectively than existing therapies, the Food and Drug Administration designated psilocybin a breakthrough therapy in 2018 and 2019 for treating drug-resistant depression and major depressive disorder.

Seattle’s city council voted unanimously to relax its rules against naturally occurring drugs, joining a handful of other cities that have decriminalized psilocybin and similar substances since Denver kicked off a wave of such changes three years ago. ... Some high-profile researchers are now calling for federal change. Separately on Monday, the head of Harvard Law School’s Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation, Mason Marks, advocated for relaxation of laws around psychedelic drugs in order to spur mental health-care innovation. His article, published in peer-review journal Nature Medicine, points out that the current status of psilocybin makes it hard to get federal funding for research, which means that private companies currently fund most research and therefore shape public policy. ... As a Schedule I controlled substance, psilocybin falls in the same category as hard drugs such as heroin. Marks said moving it to a less-restrictive category would help create “more-inclusive clinical trials and unbiased regulatory review” by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Basically, our position is that rescheduling is the best approach. It will solve many problems,” Marks said in an interview.

An Oregon state panel charged with advising on the implementation of a legal psilocybin therapy program has cleared a team of researchers to produce a comprehensive report on the science, history and culture of the psychedelic as regulators prepare to license facilities to administer it. Members of the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board released an initial report in July that reviewed hundreds of studies into psilocybin, as required under the state’s historic, voter-approved 2020 medical legalization initiative. But they were pressed for time and will now be working with a recently established psychedelic research center at Harvard Law School to more thoroughly cover the subject. ... “To the extent that the [Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications] Report can help inform their decision making, it should be  made available for that purpose,” [Mason] Marks, who is also the director of Harvard’s first-of-its-kind psychedelics policy center, said. “Hopefully, it can provide a bit of a roadmap for fruitful collaboration between states and the federal government.”

In response to the Seattle City Council’s request for policy advice on how to curb overdose deaths, a local task force is recommending the widespread decriminalization of all drugs. Psychedelics in particular, the group said, could be a promising treatment to address substance use disorders and mental health issues....Mason Marks, the director of Harvard Law School’s Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation and a member of Oregon’s official state advisory board for that state’s psilocybin therapy program, called the recommendations “an important step for Seattle to help address its overdose and mental health crisis.” “The City Council can now act confidently on this timely, evidence-based recommendation,” he added.

In the last four months, five states have legalized recreational marijuana, meaning now 30% of the country allows its adult residents to possess and use cannabis. At least two more states are poised to be added to that list following the passage of cannabis legalization bills this year. Marijuana policy experts and advocates say this national trend is indicative of a shift in Americans' perspectives on marijuana. Arguments from elected officials and voters that centered around perceived dangers of marijuana substance abuse or a rise in criminal activities have quelled as evidence has grown to show there are economic, social and health benefits from a state regulated cannabis industry, according to Mason Marks, a law professor at Gonzaga University and a fellow-in-residence at Harvard Law School's Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics. "It’s turning out to be very antiquated," Marks said of past opposition to legalizing marijuana. Marks and other experts say there will be stronger legalization efforts in the near future. However, they noted there would still be an uphill battle before the country sees any true national repeal of its marijuana laws.

A majority of voters in five states, both red and blue, passed ballot measures that legalized marijuana on Election Day. This show of support at the polls will put more pressure on other states and the federal government to update its drug policies, according to advocates and experts. "This indicates that people are frustrated with the outdated drug policies from the 1970s," Mason Marks, a law professor at Gonzaga University and a fellow in residence at Harvard Law School's Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, told ABC News. In some cases, like New York, elected officials are publicly sounding the call for major policy changes. In ballot measures passed in New Jersey, South Dakota, Montana and Arizona, residents over 21 will be able to purchase and consume marijuana for recreational purposes. South Dakotan voters also passed a separate measure that legalized medicinal marijuana in the state. Mississippi will also allow adults to use medical marijuana after voters passed an initiative on Election Day. State legislatures and health departments in the five states will come up with the specific regulations for recreational marijuana next year.

Melissa Lavasani took “microdoses” of illegal psychedelic mushrooms to recover from postpartum depression in 2018. After her condition improved, she wanted others to have access to the treatment, working for months to get a ballot initiative decriminalizing it in front of D.C. voters. Initiative 81, also known as the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020, made the ballot after months of wrangling over its legality and a nationwide debate about policing and the medical value of psychedelic drugs. If D.C. voters approve the measure, the nation’s capital would join a handful of cities decriminalizing certain psychedelic plants and fungi, including those known as “magic mushrooms.” ... Vocal opposition to the measure, which was endorsed by the D.C. Democratic Party earlier this month, has been muted. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), who fought marijuana legalization in the city, said in August that psychedelics had “some very limited medical value,” but added that he was concerned about the potential for abuse...Mason Marks, an attorney and physician who teaches health law at Harvard Law School, said “there will still be many critics, but it’s difficult to argue that decriminalization is a bad idea.” Racial justice protests over police shootings that galvanized the nation this summer have made the ballot initiative more relevant, he said. Lavasani, a D.C. Department of Energy and Environment budget officer, called the initiative the “only police reform measure on the ballot.” “Everyone is looking to see how we can improve policing in our jurisdiction, and this is one way to do it,” she said. “This is one step to ending the war on drugs. This is one way to exercise that will if you want to.”