EXCLUSIVE: How Psilocybin Services Providers Are Facing Oregon's County 'Opt-Out' Vote In November Ballot, Synthesis' Exposition In Jackson County

After the passage of the Psilocybin Services Act on 2022, which legalizes Psilocybin across the state of Oregon, various companies are planning to offer their services to the state before some counties have the possibility to vote against the local implementation of the Act in a ballot vote this November.

In the specific case of Jackson County, voters first approved Measure 109 in 2020 with a majority vote. However, county commissioners have recently announced plans to add an opt-out vote to the ballot next November, and a public hearing for constituents to share their perspectives on a potential opt-out vote is set to be held on July 27.

In response, a startup offering psilocybin-supported retreats and practitioner training, Synthesis Institute, has recently held a private meeting in Ashland, Oregon, together with advocates, experts and media, to discuss the future of psilocybin services in the Beaver State. 

As part of the meeting, Synthesis and the community-based group of local constituents named “the Jackson County Psilocybin Services Initiative” provided a demonstration of what a typical psilocybin services session looks like. 

Furthermore, architect and chief petitioner of Measure 109 Tom Eckert called on the need for a fundamentally new approach to mental healthcare in Oregon due to the ongoing mental health crisis, while several experts spoke about the safety and breakthrough possibilities of psilocybin therapy for various mental health treatments.

Lastly, local mycology expert and entrepreneur Cameron Meeks provided a written statement on the minimal impacts of mushroom production on water, farmland and electricity.

More On Synthesis Institute’s Work And Future Plans

A facilitator of legal and safe psychedelic retreats in the Netherlands since 2018, Synthesis aims to bring these evidence-based psilocybin protocols and services to its Buckhorn Springs resort located in the Ashland Mountains in Oregon.

As for numbers, Netherlands’ past retreat participants have reported a 10% increase in wellbeing and a 42.4% reduction in depressive symptoms, while their pre-retreat levels of “connectedness” more than doubled four weeks after the treatment. 

“Synthesis is committed to developing Buckhorn Springs into a licensed psilocybin service center where anyone from Jackson County can gain safe, legal access to professionally trained and licensed facilitators administering safe and transformational psilocybin services," said the company’s cofounder Myles Katz.

"We look forward to working with the county commissioners, Jackson County Psilocybin Services Initiative and the constituents to bring this new form of evidence-based mental healthcare to our Southern Oregon community.”

Photo Courtesy of Pexels.