PSA's Psychedelic State(s) of The Union: December 16th, 2025

WHY THE CAMPAIGN FELL SHORT

6. The Campaign Avoided Accountability as Strategic and Tactical Shortcomings Mounted Amid Conflicts of Interest

6.1 A Through Line and a Strained Scope of Loyalty

A Through Line

As referenced in the preceding sections, the campaign experienced serious deficiencies from the outset. Apart from possibly illegal activity, the remaining issues through election day that were not previously detailed—too succinctly characterized and numerous for lengthy individual sections—are examined here. The through line is the avoidance of accountability as shortcomings stacked up, amid unaddressed conflicts of interest. 

A Strained Scope of Loyalty

As originally characterized to Jamie Morey and me by Yes on 4 campaign director Jared Moffat and Yes on 4 chief spokesperson Emily Oneschuk, the campaign was intended to have a collaborative and distributed leadership model: local veteran Oneschuk—directly supervising, and supported by, Morey and me—leading the campaign as “grassroots campaign director” in collaboration with New Approach, two Dewey Square Group principals, and the campaign manager and ballot committee chair, Danielle McCourt, with her own boutique consultancy called DLM Strategies. To my knowledge, the only staffer officially hired to work on the campaign fulltime was Oneschuk but—for the vast majority of the campaign—no one, including Oneschuk, was actually working on the campaign fulltime. Relatedly, for the vast majority of the campaign, all ballot committee staff—save for me—had other paid roles, including Oneschuk at a dive shop. This meant practically everyone working for Yes on 4 had competing professional responsibilities diverting focus from the ballot initiative, with varying levels of conflict of interest.

A few of the clearest conflicts of interest arose from corporate lobbying clients of Dewey Square Group. At the same time as being the campaign’s de facto communications director, Dewey Square Group’s Jennifer Manley was lobbying the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS)—where influential Compass Pathways board member Linda McGoldrick was on the Health Information Technology Commission—on behalf of Bamboo Health, a mental healthcare information technology company. Per McGoldrick’s LinkedIn, she was “a recognized international leader in life sciences, healthcare, mental health, behavioral health, and global health systems,” serving on multiple high profile New England boards, including the board of Lahey Hospital & Medical Center. Furthermore, McGoldrick had long served as a “senior advisor” for a specialist Massachusetts consulting firm, whose clients overlapped with those of Dewey Square Group—particularly multiple members of the Massachusetts Hospital Association, the primary funder behind a 2018 ballot initiative campaign that paid Dewey Square Group over $1.1 million, and Tenet Healthcare (Tenet Health), one of Dewey Square Group’s largest Massachusetts state lobbying clients for over a decade. 

Compass Pathways was a for-profit corporation conducting clinical research in Massachusetts to develop psilocybin as a pharmaceutical medication, which meant it stood to lose money if Question 4 became law—especially if that led to ongoing momentum for state by state decriminalization of psilocybin. Compass Pathways had not been timid in opposing non-pharmaceutical competitors. As highlighted by David Bronner, one of Question 4’s biggest proponents, Compass Pathways had even tried to sabotage Oregon’s regulated access program for psilocybin in 2021. And, in 2024, Compass Pathways employed a registered lobbyist in Massachusetts on March 27—the day immediately following Question 4’s legislative hearing—to lobby the Department of Veterans Services within EOHHS as well as the governor’s office regarding “legislation and regulation regarding psilocybin.” Especially given Compass Pathways’ in-state activity, if Manley’s public relations strategy for the ballot initiative upset the company—such as by undermining Compass Pathways’ contemporaneous talking points about the importance of heavily regulating psilocybin—it might have compromised Manley’s ability to lobby EOHHS effectively on behalf of Dewey Square Group’s corporate client Bamboo Health. 

Even apart from the presence of Compass Pathways, Manley’s corporate lobbying for Bamboo Health and another corporate client, Molina Healthcare—simultaneous with her co-leading the Question 4 campaign—posed conflicts of interest. And, in the case of Molina Healthcare, Manley took over the account from another Dewey Square Group lobbyist months after Manley had started working for the campaign. Both Bamboo Health and Molina Healthcare earned substantial revenue related to the provision of conventional behavioral health treatments. Consequently, a reduction in demand for substance use recovery and psychiatric care, or a diversion of behavioral health spending to outside the mainstream healthcare system—both of which were outcomes proponents of Question 4 hoped the measure to eventually accomplish—were threats to the companies’ bottom lines. And Molina Healthcare specifically had been repeatedly investigated for aggressively and illegally exploiting patients for profit. As recently as 2022, the office of then state attorney general Maura Healey alleged a local subsidiary of Molina Healthcare was responsible for “fraudulent claims [being] submitted to the state’s Medicaid Program, known as MassHealth, for behavioral health care services,” forcing the company to pay a $4.6 million settlement. If Manley’s Yes on 4 messaging suggested lightly regulated access to psychedelic therapy outside the conventional healthcare system could dramatically reduce behavioral healthcare costs, it could undercut arguments in support of her corporate lobbying clients. I first learned of these conflicts of interest in 2025, after I was no longer employed by the ballot committee—to my knowledge, no actions were taken to mitigate them.

Read Part 6 of Moore’s Q4 Campaign Tell-All Here

In the latest episode of the Psychedelic Vantage Podcast, Host Jake Slomowitz speaks with Florian Brand and Lars Wilde, Co-Founders of atai Life Sciences (now AtaiBeckley) and Compass Pathways. In this conversation, theuy discuss their backgrounds, what led them into psychedelic drug development, and what inspired them to start two of the most influential companies in the space.

They also cover the major developments of the past year, including AbbVie’s up to $1.2 billion acquisition of Bretisilocin, what we know about the compound, the type of psychedelic experience it produces, and why the deal terms were so significant. Florian and Lars share their views on what this deal means for future M&A activity, potential licensing opportunities, and whether multiple short, medium, and long-duration psychedelics can succeed commercially.

Additionally, they discuss efficacy in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) versus Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD), opportunities for psychedelics beyond depression such as substance use disorders, TBI, and pain, and the data needed to expand into new indications. Florian and Lars then close the episode by sharing what they are most looking forward to in the coming months and years in psychedelic medicine.

Psychedelic Vantage is a platform, webseries and podcast hosted by founder Jake Slomowitz. It features conversations with leading figures in the psychedelic startup space, venturing into the world of psychedelic drug development, research, investing, and more.

Ready to reconnect with your psychedelic community?

Join us this Thursday, December 18 for Writing the Psychedelic Future, a special edition of the Psychedelic Professionals Networking Club - powered by Psychedelic State(s) of America and the Psychedelic Writers Guild

Expect connection, inspiration, and high-vibe networking as we bring together leading voices in psychedelic writing with the professionals shaping our field.

Featuring Jack Gorsline (Founder of The PWG and PSA), Mary Carreon (Editor in Chief, DoubleBlind Magazine), and Noah Daly (PWG/PSA Chief of Operations), in an evening guided by Carly Dutch-Greene (Studiodelic) focused on connection and the stories shaping today’s psychedelic landscape.

Format: Fireside Chat → Q&A → Networking Rooms (PPNC Style)

Topics: We will explore how psychedelic stories are created and shared, key media trends, responsible use of AI, and the simple path from idea to publication.

Not a writer? No problem! This gathering is for anyone curious about media, messaging, and the narratives driving the psychedelic movement. You will still get the ease and meaningful connection that define every PPNC event.

Thursday, December 18 @ 4pm PST / 7pm EST

Until next time,

The Psychedelic State(s) of America Team