Oregon proposes only using one type of mushroom for new psilocybin system, and no pills

Oregon would only allow the use of one mushroom species in its new psilocybin system and would ban chemically synthesized psilocybin.

These are just two details in a release of new draft rules expected Tuesday from the Oregon Health Authority. The rules, crafted by an advisory board of doctors and other public health experts, will be used to create Oregon’s ground-breaking system for allowing the use of psilocybin, the hallucinogenic substance produced by many mushrooms.

The rules cover three basic areas: how the mushrooms will be produced; how they will be tested; and what kind of training will be required of people assisting clients taking the drug.

“It is kind of a landmark moment because Oregon is the very first state to have created such a system of regulation,” said Mason Marks, a member of Oregon’s psilocybin advisory board and a senior fellow on the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation at Harvard Law School. “These are the very first draft rules that we’re seeing, so it really is a kind of pivotal event.”

Oregonians voted to set up a system that would allow the use of psilocybin in some therapies back in 2020 by passing ballot Measure 109. And it’s been a year since Oregon set up an advisory board to recommend how to roll out a safe and equitable system. It will be almost another year until all the rules are set and the system can start receiving applications from those seeking to work in the industry.