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Under Oregon’s Proposed Rules, Legal Psilocybin Will Be All-Natural, Organic, and GMO-Free

Oregon was the first state to legally allow psilocybin. This initiative, which took place on the 2020 ballot, directed the Oregon Health Authority to develop the regulations required to implement the policy in two years. OHA will begin taking applications from “service centers” and psilocybin makers on January 2nd. It is already on track to fulfill that requirement. The proposed regulations will be of interest to psychedelic enthusiasts and policy-makers who are interested in drug policy reform. They represent an innovative effort to set rules for the production, distribution, and consumption of the principal active ingredient in magic mushrooms, which is banned by the federal government since 1968.

Measure 109 also known as. Oregon Psilocybin Services Act is a law that allows adult 21-year-olds to legally consume the drug. This will be done under the guidance of a facilitator after the completion of a preparatory session. The “clients” at these “psilocybin services centers” do not need to have any specific mental or medical diagnosis. This allows anyone who is interested in experiencing the drug for spiritual, psychological or intellectual reasons.

This is quite a departure from what the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has done. They have deemed psilocybin to be a breakthrough therapy for treating treatment-resistant depression and could eventually approve it. Even if psilocybin becomes a prescription medication, it will still be legal for patients with the appropriate diagnosis.

Oregon’s proposal regulations for synthetic psilocybin are also open for public comment through April 22. However, they differ from FDA models in that it prohibits the use of synthetic psilocybin. It specifies that the drug can only be obtained from one type of fungi. Psilocybe Cubensis. Rules also prohibit the growth media like manure and wood chips due to concerns about microbial contaminants; the extraction solvents allowed (water, vegetable glycerin and acetic acids only); how extracts can sold (banning products that are “appeal for minors”, such as those in the form of animals, vehicles, persons or characters); and finally, the manner in which these extracts can consumed (restricting that they can only be eaten orally).

The last restriction, which specifically excludes transdermal patches (inhalers, nasal sprays and nasal sprays), could cause problems. According to Vince Sliwoski, Harris Bricken’s managing partner Vince Sliwoski, “Studies have demonstrated that psilocybin treatment is effective in relieving existential and emotional distress at the end-of-life for 65-85% percent of terminally ill patients in clinical trials.” Psychedelics Law Blog. “Many terminal patients cannot swallow….If OHA sticks to this ‘oral only’ stricture in the final rules—based on a restrictive reading of Measure 109 or for any other reason—you can expect some controversy and perhaps even legislative intervention.”

Some of the OHA’s regulations are also questionable. The OHA’s proposed regulations state that “manufacturers cannot apply pesticides to mushrooms or other growing mediums.” They require the rejection of all extract batches when it is determined that any samples contain pesticides at levels above those of action. You may wonder if it’s possible to use pesticides while still adhering to this rule. The rule would prohibit manufacturers from making psilocybin through the use of genetically modified organisms (e.g. bacteria). This seems to be even more problematic.

The OHA is charged with setting the training requirements for facilitators under Measure 109, which includes coverage of cultural and social considerations. That mission may have been too ambitious for the authority.

OHA will require trip-sitters to complete a nine-module, 120-hour curriculum taught by trained trainers. This includes 12 hours of “Cultural Equity with regard to Psilocybin Services”. Topics such as cultural equity, the relationship to equity in health, and the social determinants that impact health, and “racial injustice”, “racial justice”, “the effect of drug policy upon individuals and communities,” and “history and evolution of systemic inequality, which includes systemic inequity when it comes to the delivery of healthcare and mental health care services.”

Despite some reservations about the OHA regulations’ details, Measure 109 will create a new option. Service center customers can legally consume psilocybin that has been provenance and dosage known. It is produced under sanitary conditions and subject to safety and quality standards that are difficult to find on the black market. Self-help is still an option for psychedelic addicts who don’t like the OHA requirements. Oregon voters approved Measure 109 on the same day that they approved Measure 109. This ballot measure, which also eliminated drug-related criminal penalties, made this option less legally perilous.