The issue of whether microdosing will be permissible under the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act has been a relatively hot topic lately. In December 2021, the Oregon Health Authority held a series of public listening sessions over three successive nights, and several members of the public raised the issue of microdosing. The OHA did not answer questions during the sessions, but subsequently published a helpful Summary of Questions and Answers based on some of the questions asked during the sessions. Two of the Q&As published by the OHA directly relate to microdosing:
Q: How will dosage be recommended? Will clients have a chance to voice their preference for dosage?
A: Rules specifying dosage requirements will be adopted later in 2022. Clients will have an opportunity to discuss all aspects of their administrative session, including dosage, during their preparation session with a licensed facilitator. Maximum doses may be established in rule. Clients and licensed facilitators will work together to determine dosage. These details will be established in rule.
Q: Is the board considering micro-dosing sessions?
A: The term “microdose” is not used in M109. M109 requires OHA to establish the maximum concentration of psilocybin that is permitted in a single serving of a psilocybin product, and the number of servings that are permitted in a psilocybin product package. Details will be established in rule later this year.
In short, the OHA is saying, for the moment: “We’re thinking about it, and we’ll let you know where we land when we publish the draft rules.”
To date, the Psilocybin Advisory Board has not approved any recommendations to the OHA on any specific topics relating to microdosing, although several PAB subcommittees have touched on the issue. Most recently, the Research Subcommittee discussed the benefits and risks of microdosing at some length during its January 20, 2022 meeting. However, the jury is still out on all fronts.
In the meantime, our firm will be holding the first session of our “Deep Dive Into the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act” virtual event series on January 27, 2022 from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Pacific Standard Time via Zoom. The main topic will be microdosing and we will be discussing the specific provisions of the Act that could affect microdosing and the specific rules that the OHA could make (or not make) that will determine whether microdosing will be legally permissible and/or a viable business option for service center operators.
A slideshow of our presentation for the first virtual event can be found here: Deep Dive – Session 1 PP.
If you have questions concerning the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act or any other laws involving psilocybin, entheogenic plants, or psychedelics in general, please contact attorneys Dave Kopilak, Kathryn Tucker, Sean Clancy, Kaci Hohmann, or Alex Berger from our Psychedelics Practice Group.
