Legal Magic Mushroom Therapy Now Available In Oregon, But Are Prices Too Steep?

The first and one of only two U.S. states, with Colorado, where psychedelics have been decriminalized and legalized within a regulated therapeutic model, Oregon recently licensed what is now the nation’s first psilocybin service center.

Oregon’s Measure 109, approved by 50% of total voters in the 2020 ballot, entails no specific diagnosis or physician’s prescription is required to receive psilocybin therapy at the service centers, although all the process involved within administrating the psychedelic is effectively regulated by the state’s Health Authority (OHA) and a special body created for the establishment of services, the Oregon Psilocybin Services (OPS.) 

This means everyone from product manufacturers to testing labs as well as facilitators and service centers must each own their corresponding license.

As of May 8, facilitators hold the highest number (8 licenses), following manufacturers (3), and last labs (1) and service centers (1). 

The licenses, which are not cheap, include setting everything for the application, annual fees, insurance and renewal, without the possibility to deduct taxes (as psilocybin is federally listed as a Schedule I substance.)

For patients, prices are also high, as seen in the published cost of a single session of four grams of psilocybin ($3,500), or one of two-and-a-half grams ($2,800) by the service center that is the sole license holder to date, as reported Mattha Busby for DB (other estimations range from $1,500 to $3,000, as shared with CBS.)

Nonetheless, as many as 80 people are now on EPIC Healing Eugene’s waiting list, most of them reportedly presenting either PTSD, trauma, or depression. The center’s owner stated that upcoming work will focus on creating more accessible therapies for people through scholarships and creative sponsorships.

While many psychedelic therapy advocates have already expressed their concerns on accessibility facing current prices, Oregon’s legal psychedelics framework results from both Measure 109 legalizing the psilocybin service centers and Measure 110 decriminalizing personal possession of small amounts of controlled substances.

This, in fact, makes the service centers the only place to legally obtain the psychedelic as gifting, exchanging or selling the mushrooms remains illegal. This also sparks  conversation around the likely coexistence of illegal marketplaces and therapy centers along with those regulated by the state.

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Krakenimages.com and Cannabis_Pic on Shutterstock.