Mass. voters refused to legalize psychedelics. Then came the campaign infighting.

Boston Globe

5 days ago

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The allegations put a spotlight on campaign finance laws for ballot question committees and nonprofit organizations.
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Unlike rules for candidates, there are no limits on contributions to referendum committees and the groups don't have to disclose their financial activity as frequently.
In interviews, Moore and Morey said they felt a duty to inform regulators that their campaign bonuses were paid by Heroic Hearts Project and not publicly disclosed in political finance reports once they learned those payments may have violated the law.
They also said they hold Heroic Hearts Project in high esteem and accused the ballot question committee of manipulating the nonprofit. Their accusations
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'We basically ratted on ourselves because we didn't think it was right,' said Morey, a Marshfield resident who served as the campaign's community engagement director.
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A spokesperson for the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance said it doesn't confirm complaints
made with the agency. On June 27, Maura D. Cronin, deputy general counsel at the agency, said in an email shared with the Globe that she was reviewing Moore's records.
The ballot committee, which closed in May, was known as Massachusetts for Mental Health Options or the Yes on 4 campaign, and reported raising more than
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The group pushed a measure that would have created therapeutic centers for accessing psychedelic drugs and would have allowed unregulated consumption and home growing of some psychedelic substances.
Voters
Danielle McCourt, chairperson of the ballot question committee, said she had no comment.
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Another campaign official said in a statement that the committee properly disclosed its activities. The statement said that nonprofit groups 'educated the public about psychedelics,' and that such action is legal.
'There is a basic distinction between these activities under the law,' said the official, Jared Moffat, former policy director for New Approach Advocacy Fund, a social welfare organization in Washington, D.C.
The fund shares a founder with the national political action committee, New Approach, which organized successful psychedelic legalization campaigns in Oregon and Colorado. The political action committee didn't respond to requests for comment.
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In a statement, Jesse Gould, founder and president of Heroic Hearts Project said the organization wouldn't comment on the complaints, but is 'committed to transparency and integrity in all of our activities.'
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The group pays for veterans with post traumatic stress disorder to travel to places where psychedelics are legal for treatment.
Under tax laws, nonprofits, which don't have to disclose their donors, can take
as long as the spending doesn't exceed federal limits, which can be up to 20 percent of a group's annual spending.
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If
Geoff Foster, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, a nonpartisan good government group, said an investigation is appropriate.
'These are serious allegations and they warrant an investigation by OCPF,' he said.
Common Cause is backing legislation that would shed more light on campaign finance activity of ballot committees by requiring more frequent reporting.
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State regulators have previously sanctioned nonprofits for inadequately disclosing their support for ballot questions.
In 2017, the nonprofit
In 2018, regulators sanctioned
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Moore's complaints also ask state regulators to scrutinize a Massachusetts organization, Open Circle Alliance, which educates the public about psychedelics. The ballot committee helped to establish the organization in April 2024, and Emily Oneschuk, a ballot committee official, is the alliance's treasurer and a director, Moore's complaints said.
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The committee didn't record any donations or payments involving Open Circle Alliance or Heroic Hearts Project, state campaign finance records show.
In an interview, Moore accused ballot committee leaders of using the groups to skirt campaign finance laws. He and Morey are involved with Mass Healing, a nonprofit formed this year that advocates for legal access to psychedelics for therapeutic reasons.
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'The only way for the movement to win is for this mismanagement to be exposed so it doesn't happen in other states,' said Moore, a Cambridge resident who has taken psychedelics to treat obsessive compulsive disorder.
Open Circle Alliance said in a statement that it operated independently from the campaign and did not receive funding from it or New Approach. Oneschuk 'stepped back' from alliance activities last June to work on the campaign, said Stefanie Jones and Rebecca Slater, co-founders of the group.
Moore's complaints also allege the Heroic Hearts Project paid another nonprofit, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, to organize college students.
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In an e-mail, Students for Sensible Drug Policy said it was reviewing the matter and wouldn't comment.
Moore's complaints also raised concerns about television ads.
The ballot question committee and Heroic Hearts Project paid for commercials, using the same agency to purchase time on local television, Federal Communication Commission records show.
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Commission records reviewed by the Globe show the nonprofit paid $317,603 for commercials on three local stations. The group said it looking into how much it spent.
Though the
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Laura Crimaldi can be reached at