The Oregon governor announced on Tuesday the appointment of 17 members of an unprecedented advisory board that will help facilitate the implementation of a historic initiative to legalize psilocybin mushrooms for therapeutic purposes.
This happened three months after Governor Kate Brown’s office (D) started accepting applications for the panel, which was required by Measure 109 approved by voters in November.
The expert council consists of doctors, psychologists, public health specialists, researchers, a harm reduction specialist, representatives of state agencies such as the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and the Department of Justice, and more.
“Like many, I was initially skeptical when I heard about Measure 109,” Brown said in a press release. “But if we can help people suffering from PTSD, depression, trauma and addiction – including veterans, cancer patients and others – supervised psilocybin therapy is a treatment that deserves additional consideration.”
Tom Eckert, chief petitioner for Measure 109 and a member of the advisory council, said the development “represents a crucial first step towards the implementation of the first psilocybin services program across the state.”
“This is an impressive Council ready to do an innovative job. My late wife Sheri and I have always imagined this – a competent board of experts, representing a variety of relevant disciplines, advising the Oregon Health Authority on the safety, practice, training and standards of access to psilocybin, ”he said. “I am filled with pride and gratitude for all the voters in Oregon who made this a reality.”
Advisory board members will work with OHA and stakeholders to inform the regulations of the psilocybin program, which will be the first of its kind in the USA, and also to review “available scientific studies and research on the safety and efficacy of psilocybin in treatment mental illness. “
OHA has two years to create the program’s rules. It will also “examine, publish and publicly distribute” the council’s findings.
Via Healing Advocacy Fund.
The advisory board will have until June 30 to present these conclusions and recommendations. OHA will have until July 31 to start publishing and distributing this information.
The board is also responsible for developing “a long-term strategic plan to ensure that psilocybin services become and remain a safe, affordable and affordable therapeutic option for all persons 21 years of age or older in this state for whom psilocybin is appropriate. “
This includes an attempt to coordinate with the state attorney general’s office to discuss the measure, as well as “potential federal policies for the application of psilocybin in Oregon after the two-year program development period has ended,” according to a explanatory statement for the initiative.
“This new Psilocybin Advisory Council is an exceptional group of experts and advocates that gives Oregon the knowledge and understanding we need to promote healing, safety, equality and access through psilocybin therapy,” Sam Chapman, executive director the Healing Advocacy Fund and the former campaign manager of the successful voting effort, he said. “This is a historic first step in establishing a program that will help tens of thousands and we are encouraged by Governor Brown’s leadership to set up this council.”
SMASH: @OregonGovBrown has just announced its appointments to the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board#orpol #psilocibina https://t.co/AU3tyDfINf
– Healing Advocacy Fund (@ voteyeson109) March 16, 2021
Rachel Knox, who will act as a harm reduction expert for the state panel, said, “Blacks, Indians and Latinos in Oregon and the United States have suffered disproportionate psychological trauma as a result of the ‘War on Drugs’, a systemic phenomenon that continues to impact directly and negatively affect all health determinants in these communities. “
“Ironically, it criminalized the use of plant substances with remarkable industrial, medical and spiritual utility,” said Knox, who is also a board member of the Minority Cannabis Business Association. “Psilocybin has been used in the healing and spiritual practices of indigenous communities for a long time. Much of what we know about psilocybin comes from indigenous knowledge, a fact that is often overlooked. “
Meanwhile, OHA is accepting applications for three positions related to the psilocybin program.
He is looking for an operations analyst to “provide political, legislative and operational assistance to the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Council, as well as support the Psilocybin program”.
The agency also needs a research analyst “to develop and manage research and evaluation projects related to the Oregon Psilocybin Services Program”.
Finally, there is a vacancy for an Oregon Psilocybin Services section manager, whose role would be “to manage and supervise the Oregon Psilocybin Services Section and ensure that operations comply with the relevant and relevant statutes and regulations”
While Oregon’s therapeutic model of psilocybin is new, it is part of a growing movement in the United States to reform the laws governing psychedelics that began after Denver became the first city in the United States to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms in 2019 by through a citizen initiative.
On Monday, for example, a wide range of psychedelics like psilocybin and ayahuasca officially became the lowest local law enforcement priorities in the nation’s capital after voters approved a decriminalization initiative in Washington, DC this year. past.
A New York lawmaker introduced legislation last week that would decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms in the state.
Six cities – Oakland, Santa Cruz, Ann Arbor, Washington, DC, Somerville and Cambridge – have decriminalized possession of a broader collection of plant and fungal-based psychedelics since the Denver move. Activists in Spokane, Washington, also recently presented a reform proposal similar to local lawmakers.
Lawmakers in California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, Washington State and Virginia are also considering drug and psychedelic policy reform projects for the 2021 session.
A Republican lawmaker in Iowa introduced a bill to remove psilocybin from the list of controlled substances, which received a hearing from the subcommittee earlier this month, but has not moved forward. He also filed another legislative document to allow critically ill patients to use psychedelic mushrooms, LSD, DMT and other drugs.
Here is the full list of appointed members of the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board:
Appointed Director of Public Health: Andre Ourso, OHA
Representative of the state health officer Dr. Tom Jeanne, OHA
Oregon Health Policy Council representative: Barb Hansen
State employee with specialization in public health: Ali Hamade, OHA
Local health officer: Dr. Sarah Present, Clackamas City
Addiction medicine specialist: Kevin Fitts, Portland
Licensed Psychologist: Dr. Kimberley Golletz, Corvallis
Licensed Physician: Dr. Todd Korthius, OHSU
Academic Researcher: Mason Marks, Portland
Mycologist: Dr. Jessie Uehling, Oregon State University
Damage reduction specialist: Angela Carter, Portland
Specialist in psychopharmacology: Dr. Atheir Abbas, OHSU
OLCC: Nathan Rix
Oregon DOJ: David Hart
Appointed petitioner chief: Tom Eckert
Public: Stephanie Barrs, Bend
Public: Dr. Rachel Knox, Portland
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Photo courtesy of Wikimedia / Mushroom Observer.
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