Psilocybin opt out is the question for November

HERMISTON – The Hermiston City Council will let the voters decide whether psilocybin operations are to be allowed within city limits. When Oregon passed Measure 109, it meant that every county in Oregon was assumed to be opted into the program unless it wanted to opt out.

“The council unanimously felt that this is the type of issue that it’s good to send on to the voters,” Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan said.

The council instructed staff write the referendum and bring it back for consideration at a later meeting. When Measure 109 was on the ballot, Hermiston residents rejected the legalization in every voting precinct, as did the rest of Umatilla County.

The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners has already approved a ballot question on the issue. Pendleton City Manager Robb Corbett says the issue will be taken up at the next city council meeting on July 19.

The Oregon Health Authority is still preparing rules that will govern the psilocybin program, which is the first of its kind in the nation. Psilocybin facilitators are participating in training and under the measure, only those who are licensed can possess and administer psilocybin. Clients who are 21 and older must consume the substance at an approved site under that facilitator’s supervision.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration did grant breakthrough therapy designation for the use of psilocybin in cases of treatment-resistant depression and major depressive order. As of last year, new centers for psychedelic research exploring the use of psilocybin have been launched, including one at Johns Hopkins University.

Photo is from Wikimedia Commons

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Elkhorn Media Group

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