City Council to discuss limits on psilocybin mushrooms

Published 9:10 am Monday, July 11, 2022

Baker City councilors will discuss during their meeting Tuesday, July 12 whether to ask city voters to ban the production, processing and therapeutic use of psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in “magic mushrooms,” within the city limits.

Councilors will meet at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 1655 First St.

Baker County commissioners have also scheduled two public hearings regarding a proposed ordinance banning psilocybin production and therapeutic use in unincorporated parts of the county as well as within the Unity city limits.

The hearings are scheduled for 9 a.m. on July 20, and 9 a.m. on Aug. 3, both in the Courthouse, 1995 Third St.

(Commissioners are acting city councilors Unity, which has not had an elected city coucnil for several years.)

The psilocybin issue arises from Measure 109, which Oregon voters approved in November 2020.

The measure legalizes the use of psilocybin, in designated “service centers,” for purposes such as treating people 21 and older who are suffering from psychological trauma, addiction and other ailments.

The measure does not allow the retail sale of psilocybin, which makes it different from marijuana.

According to the Oregon Health Authority, the state agency that is overseeing the state’s new psilocybin system, the substance “will only be administered to persons 21 years or older in licensed service center settings under the supervision of trained and licensed facilitators.”

Such centers can’t be within 1,000 feet of a school.

Measure 109 passed statewide by a margin of 57% to 43%.

A majority of Baker County voters who cast their ballots opposed the measure, however, with almost 64% voting against Measure 109.

The measure directed the Oregon Health Authority to come up with rules for regulating psilocybin, including production and use of the product. Oregon is the first state to legalize psilocybin use.

The Oregon Psilocybin Services section will start taking applications for psilocybin businesses and services on Jan. 2, 2023.

The measure does allow cities and counties to pursue either permanent bans or a two-year moratorium on psilocybin — either of which would have to be approved by voters in the jurisdiction — or to regulate the time, place and manner in which the drug is produced or used for therapeutic purposes.

In a staff report to councilors for Tuesday’s meeting, City Manager Jonathan Cannon listed four possible options.

• A permanent ban on psilocybin services. To do so, the city council would need to pass an ordinance that takes the matter to city voters, who would decide whether to approve the permanent ban.

To qualify such a measure for the Nov. 8, 2022, election, the city would need to submit the measure to the Baker County Clerk’s office by Sept. 8.

• A two-year moratorium on psilocybin services. This would follow the same process as a permanent ban, with a city ordinance and ballot measure.

• An ordinance regulating the time, place and manner of psilocybin services, which could, for example, restrict such services to commercial or other zones.

• Take no action and allow psilocybin to be regulated by the state.