Psychedelic Media Literacy 101: Why The Boston Globe's Latest Article on Psychedelic Policy Reform in Massachusetts is Journalistic Malpractice by Omission

This is… Psychedelic State(s) of America

Psychedelic Media Literacy 101: Why The Boston Globe's Latest Article on Psychedelic Policy Reform in Massachusetts is Journalistic Malpractice by Omission

By Jack Gorsline

The Yes on 4 Campaign Finance Scandal

The Globe’s coverage makes no mention of the Yes on 4 campaign’s alleged campaign finance violations, which the Globe previously covered last year following my initial coverage of the allegations via Lucid News and the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. In order to fully inform their readership, the Globe only needed to add two phrases, "controversial" and "alleged campaign finance violations," to their existing paragraph on the Yes on 4 campaign, alongside a link back to their previous coverage of the ongoing investigation.

The 12 Psychedelic Bills Filed in January 2025

The article makes no mention of the national record 12 psychedelics-related bills filed by Massachusetts state lawmakers at the beginning of the legislative term in January 2025. Failed ballot measures in Massachusetts typically send an issue into political purgatory for at least two years. Any legislative progress made on a trend-bucking timeline is essential context to show the scope of support among voters and lawmakers. A single sentence with a link to the Globe’s coverage of the first wave of bill filings in January 2025 would suffice. Actually, scratch that. The Spotlight team never even bothered to cover those 12 bill filings last year.

The Massachusetts Psychiatric Society Endorsement

The article makes no mention of last year's historic endorsement of three psychedelic decriminalization-focused bills filed this term from the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society. This marks the first time that an active American Psychiatric Association affiliate chapter has formally and publicly endorsed drug decriminalization as an essential public health reform that would save lives and “end the war on drugs.” Considering the society's publicly outspoken opposition to the Yes on 4 campaign back in 2024, their institutional 180 on the subject is remarkable and a glaring omission. This contextual omission by the Globe is especially striking in the wake of the Globe’s deferential coverage of the widely unpopular cannabis repeal campaign on the ballot in Massachusetts this year, despite multiple documented on-camera instances of the repeal campaign’s canvassers providing voters with inaccurate information about the lobby-bankrolled measure. The Globe has not reported on that in detail yet, either.

Grassroots Exclusion

There is no mention of the Massachusetts-based grassroots psychedelic advocacy organizations involved in the legislative drafting process for almost all of the psychedelics-related bills filed this term. Multiple advocacy organizations involved in the effort surrounding this recently-advanced amendment contacted the Globe via multiple direct channels prior to the article's publication. A single sentence would close this context gap and clarify the populist roots of this reform resurgence.

State-Level Momentum

While the Globe briefly notes President Trump’s executive order on psychedelic research signed earlier this year, there is no mention of psychedelic policy reform efforts in other states, namely Oregon, Colorado, Texas, or New Mexico. The article ignores the striking increase in bipartisan support for psychedelic policy reform at the state level prior to the executive order.

The Medical Psilocybin Equity Fund

There is also no mention that some of the key provisions included in the proposed pilot program framework, like the medical psilocybin fund inspired by New Mexico’s Medical Psilocybin Treatment Equity Fund, were not included in either of the originally filed standalone psychedelic pilot program bills. These were only added to the newly-amended pilot program’s proposed design after grassroots advocates urged state lawmakers to do so. A single sentence would clarify that local activists shaped this latest breakthrough in Massachusetts, well before Trump’s executive order.

A Faceless Corporate Sign-off

The article concludes with a quote from the failed Yes on 4 campaign’s supporters without direct attribution to any one person. The quote is from an official Yes on 4 campaign concession statement made on election night, not from currently active supporters of psychedelic policy reform who played a direct role in bringing this amendment about almost two years later.

The Globe received multiple press releases and direct outreach from the grassroots advocates who actually stayed and worked with state lawmakers to keep this issue alive. Instead of quoting those activists, who are known to and have been quoted by multiple Boston Globe reporters over the last three years, the Spotlight reporters chose to facelessly quote the corporate consultants behind the Yes on 4 campaign's demise, almost all of whom have sustained significant reputational damage from the campaign’s many scandals.

ICYMI: MA's Psychedelic Pilot Program Policy Reform Breakthrough After Scandalous '24 Ballot Campaign

Earlier this month, Massachusetts state lawmakers approved a key amendment to a major Economics Omnibus Bill that seeks to establish a 5-year psychedelic treatment pilot program -- complete with key grassroots advocacy focus point concessions from major advocacy organizations and corporate-aligned lawmakers alike.

As Psychedelic State(s) of America Founder and Investigative Journalist Jack Gorsline details in this segment, this latest breakthrough in Massachusetts comes on the heels of a flurry of legislative activity surrounding psychedelics over the last half-decade, but is even more noteworthy considering the scandal-plagued failure of the $7/5 Million budgeted 2024."Yes on 4" Psychedelics Ballot Campaign, which is still under investigation by the MA Office of Campaign and Political Finance for alleged campaign finance violations of over $1 Million.

Source: PSA's Weekly News Roundup, Powered by Psychedelics Today , July 10th, 2026