PsychedeLinks – May 26, 2023

Synaptic Institute Inc., a facilitator training program based out of PDX, has halted plans to add a service center. Synaptic’s founder cited the “cumbersome” nature of licensing and running a service center as the primary driver for the decision. This statement echoes previously expressed concerns within Oregon’s psilocybin industry, largely prompted by the unique regulatory challenges faced by service centers as opposed to regulations for facilitators and facilitator training programs. Compounding these concerns are questions of tax and insurance liability, the required separation from other professional licenses, and a generally high cost of business. With only 3 service centers currently licensed in the state of Oregon, there is understandable concern among prospective psilocybin business owners that the state will see a surge of newly trained and licensed facilitators with little access to space in which to practice their craft. We are however in the very early days of the psilocybin industry, and a moderate surge in all licenses is anticipated throughout the year.

“Understandably, many prospective business owners in this space are coming to terms with the reality of start-up costs,” says Emerge attorney Kaci Hohmann. “There has been a lot of discussion in the community about Internal revenue Code 280E, high regulatory costs, and unaffordable or unavailable insurance coverage. As more prospective business owners get really serious about their business plans, they should consult with an attorney and CPA who can oftentimes find creative solutions to help mitigate the impact of these barriers.”

“Salem, Massachusetts lawmakers have approved a resolution to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms. Members of the City Council voted unanimously on Thursday [5/11/23] to pass an activist-led measure making it the local government’s official policy to deprioritize enforcement of laws prohibiting the possession and cultivation of psilocybin. This is the latest Massachusetts city to enact some form of psychedelics decriminalization as the national reform movement continues to expand, though it is the only one to focus on psilocybin alone. Other cities that have taken broader psychedelics action include Somerville, Cambridge, Easthampton and Northampton. The local measure doesn’t remove criminal penalties for the substance, but it states that the “arrest of adult persons for using or possessing psilocybin-containing fungi” as well as the “investigation and arrest of adult persons for cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing, engaging in practices with, and/or possessing psilocybin-containing fungi” should be “amongst the lowest law enforcement priority for the city of Salem.” The resolution says that “no City of Salem department, agency, board, commission, officer or employee of the city should use city funds or resources to assist in the enforcement of laws imposing criminal penalties for the use and possession of psilocybin-containing fungi by adults.”

“Arizona will soon award $5 million in grants for researchers to conduct clinical studies on hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms. The recently approved budget for fiscal year 2024 includes a competitive grant program overseen by the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS). Grant recipients will conduct clinical trials to study the effects of "whole mushroom psilocybin" on post-traumatic stress disorder, long COVID symptoms, depression, anxiety, chronic pain and other maladies. Trials must prioritize veterans, first responders, frontline health care workers and people from underserved communities. It's unclear when ADHS will begin accepting applications or how large the grants will be, but the budget requires that grants be awarded by Feb. 1 each year.”

“UW Medicine will facilitate a small-scale study to explore the potential benefit of psychedelic mushrooms with psychotherapy. In early May, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5263 governing recreational and medical use of psilocybin. The new law mandates that the University of Washington School of Medicine facilitate a study to explore the potential therapeutic value of the psychedelic compound found in mushrooms. “The big benchmark in the bill says that we need to start (treating) people Jan. 1, 2025. We have about a year and a half to get all the infrastructure developed,” said addiction psychiatrist Dr. Nathan Sackett, who will oversee the trial. He’s an acting assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. Sackett said the Seattle-based trial will include 30 to 40 military veterans and first-responders who have documented problems with post-traumatic stress and alcohol use disorders, which are often linked. Participants will likely be recruited through community groups who already work with prospective participants.”

“It's been two years in the making, but Oregon now has the supply chain for legal psilocybin therapy complete from cap to stem. That means that the state has licensed at least one "magic mushroom" grower, a lab to test the product, facilitators to administer the psilocybin to clients and a service center to do it in. Recently, The Story got a chance to tour Rose City Laboratories, which is the first lab licensed in Oregon to test psilocybin. They walked [KGW8] through the process that happens before psilocybin gets sent out to service centers for clients to take in controlled "trips."

“As the state Legislature considers a bill to decriminalize several psychedelics including psilocybin, some L.A.-area businesses are openly selling the potent hallucinogen. Although cannabis is legal statewide, no Southern California municipality or county has followed the lead of Oakland, San Francisco and Santa Cruz by decriminalizing magic mushrooms. Yet there’s a thriving market for the fungi and other psychedelics in L.A. Entrepreneurs have long taken advantage of the relative scarcity and high demand by selling them illegally, in gleaming storefronts and in parking lots. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department served about 50 search warrants at dispensaries selling magic mushrooms in the last six months alone. Meanwhile, there’s growing support for legalizing or decriminalizing psilocybin and other hallucinogens among psychologists, researchers, veterans’ advocates and others who’ve witnessed mental health turnarounds after psychedelic treatment. As evidence of their therapeutic benefits grows and states including Oregon and Colorado legalize or decriminalize magic mushrooms, some Democrats in Sacramento are pushing to make a similar change in California.”