Mushrooms Will Soon Be Legal in Oregon for the First Time
What Should I Know?
The Netherlands is about to lose its monopoly on mushroom tourism. Oregonians, in the year 2020, voted in favor of Proposition 109. This will allow the legal consumption of psilocybin if you are over the age of 21.
By January 1st, 2023, we will specifically know how all will be regulated. The final draft will be published.
A day later — on the 2nd — the Psilocybin Services of Oregon will begin accepting applications for producing, transporting, delivering, and selling shrooms.
There are a few caveats on consumption, though, they must be consumed under the supervision of a facilitator (more on this below).
Do Mushrooms Really Work?
Against Depression
Psilocybin is the hallucinogenic chemical in magic mushrooms. After consuming magic mushrooms, the trip brings down our defense mechanisms. We become vulnerable.
But other than causing ego death, hallucinations, and visual alterations, psilocybin works like an antidepressant. It increases the availability of serotonin in the synapses.
The antidepressant effect is not short-lived. A study measured depressive symptoms after two sessions of psilocybin. Improvement in symptoms showed just after a week, afterward slight consecutive improvements at 1-, 6-, and 12-months.
A larger scale study with 233 psychedelic-naïve participants showed improvement in depressive symptoms. The subjects in this study received a 6- to 8-hour session of psychological support.
Other Conditions
The Oregon Health Authority sees the potential in other areas as well.
“psilocybin may help address depression, anxiety, trauma, and addiction.”
Psilocybin shows promise in obsessive-compulsive disorder too.
What Are the Risks?
“Drug experts and users have consistently rated psilocybin as the least harmful and potentially ‘most beneficial’ drug of potential misuse.”¹
According to WebMD, too, the risk of abuse seems to be low. But even then, there are adverse reactions. Some hallucinations may turn awry and cause confusion, fear, and paranoia. Most users tend to agree that a “bad trip” is due to fighting against it or fighting against losing control. For this reason, having someone serving as a guide may actually help.
In the study mentioned above, 179 of the 233 participants (77%) developed headaches, nausea, and dizziness. A study with 19 participants reported no serious adverse effects.
How Will Consumption Work?
It will not be like Marihuana. You cannot go to a shop, buy shrooms, go home, and ingest them.
Magic mushrooms should only be consumed with a licensed facilitator and in a licensed facility. Whether home visits will be allowed later on is yet to be determined.
Facilitators are certified people that go through training. They may be therapists or not. Facilitators will supervise you during your trip.
You don’t need a formal diagnosis to consume shrooms; if it is self-improvement that you are looking for, that is enough. The only requirement is having the money to pay for it since, most likely, insurance will not cover this.
How Will It Be Consumed?
There are over 200 hallucinogenic mushroom species. But at the beginning, only Psilocybe cubensis will be allowed. P. cubensis is the most widely studied and most frequently consumed. Other species will likely be added down the line.
Only the edible form will be legal.
It will be legal at a state level, not at a federal level. If you work for the federal government, be careful, as there may still be restrictions.
How Do Sessions or Therapy Work?
It will be divided into three phases.
- Preparation
- Drug administration
- Integration
The therapy with psilocybin consumption lasts several hours (6–8 hours). This trip may be out in nature or indoors, blindfolded with headphones.
There aren’t any laws imposing the duration; instead of an 8-hour session, the dose can be lower with a shorter duration. Maybe microdosing will be allowed too.
When Can I Begin?
Applications will start on January 2nd, 2023. If everything rolls out as planned, consumption may start somewhen around mid-2023.
Prices
It is hard determining the price. But for comparison, a ketamine session currently ranges from 500 to 2,000 US dollars.
Works Cited:
1. Carhart-Harris, R. L., Bolstridge, M., Day, C. M. J., et al.(2018). Psilocybin with psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: six-month follow-up. Psychopharmacology, 235(2), 399–408. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-017-4771-x