The first meeting of the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board (the “Board”) created by Oregon Measure 109 (“M109”) was held on March 31, 2021. The meeting was held remotely on Zoom. Andre Ourso from the Oregon Health Authority (the “OHA”), a nonvoting ex officio member of the Board, led the meeting. An audio replay of the entire three-hour meeting can be found here.
At the outset of the meeting, in a sentimental and thoughtful gesture, everyone bowed their heads for a moment of silence to honor the late Sheri Eckert, one of the chief petitioners of M109.
From a substantive standpoint, the first meeting largely dealt with various administrative matters, including introductions of the Board members, the rules and procedures of the Board, the charter of the Board and the various deadlines imposed by M109, and the ability of the Board to create subcommittees.
There was frequent mention of developing a system based on science and evidence, with a focus on equity and accessibility.
Here are some of the highlights from the meeting:
• The naturopath physician position (which is required by Section 6(1)(b)(D) of M109) has not yet been filled, but will be.
• The Board will eventually elect a chair and vice chair of the Board, but did not do so at the first meeting.
• The Board, at its discretion, will create a number of subcommittees. Subcommittees must be chaired or co-chaired by Board members, but members of the public can be invited to join the subcommittees. Voting matters cannot be delegated to subcommittees, as every voting matter must be approved by the Board. However, it is likely that a significant amount of the substantive research and work will take place at the subcommittee level.
• The Board approved the creation of three subcommittees, together with the chairs of the subcommittees:
° Equity Subcommittee: Rachel Knox and Angela Carter, co-chairs
° Facilitator Training Subcommittee: Tom Eckert, chair
° Research Subcommittee: Todd Korthius and Ali Hamade, co- chair
• All Board meetings and all subcommittee meetings will be open to the public. Communications between Board members about Board business is prohibited.
• There was no public comment period at the first meeting, but the goal is to have a public comment periods at the conclusion of future meetings.
• Future meeting dates for the Board and the various subcommittees will be announced.
We will blog about M109 frequently during the two-year development period leading up to January 2, 2023. Also, the OHA has an M109 implementation page on its website that can be found here.
If you have questions concerning M109 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.
