8 Facts About Oregon’s Measure 109
1. Measure 109 is the first ever state-sanctioned program allowing people 21 years or older to access psilocybin services in Oregon.
Some jurisdictions have decriminalized psychedelics and other drugs. But what Oregon’s Measure 109 does is truly revolutionary: it creates a regulatory infrastructure for state-sanctioned psilocybin services. After the Oregon Health Authority begins receiving applications for licensure on January 2, 2023, people who have lived in Oregon for two or more years and who are 21 and older will be able to take a state-approved facilitator training course, obtain a license from the state, then facilitate psilocybin experiences in an approved psilocybin service center.
2. You won’t need a medical diagnosis to have a facilitated psilocybin experience under Measure 109.
Part of what makes Measure 109 so revolutionary is that psilocybin facilitation will not be confined to the medical model. In other words, you don’t need to go to a doctor and receive a diagnosis to receive a facilitated psilocybin experience. You don’t need to have depression, anxiety, or a disorder of any kind. You can have a facilitated psilocybin experience for spiritual exploration, personal growth, or to connect with nature. It’s entirely up to you!
3. Any Oregon resident with a high school diploma or equivalent and has graduated from an approved training program is eligible to apply for a license to facilitate psilocybin experiences.
Outside of Oregon, psychedelic therapy must be administered within the medical system by mental health professionals such as psychiatrists, psychologists, or social workers. Under Measure 109, any Oregonian with a high school diploma who meets certain criteria may be eligible for a license to manufacture psilocybin products, operate a psilocybin service center, facilitate psilocybin services, or test psilocybin products.
4. Once Measure 109 goes into effect, there will be legal psilocybin retreat centers in Oregon!
Starting on January 2, 2023, licensed psilocybin service centers may legally operate in Oregon, and under the supervision of a licensed facilitator, may offer psilocybin experiences for anyone aged 21 or older, even if they don’t live in Oregon! Plans for some of these retreat centers are already in motion, including retreats by Synthesis Institute and InnerTrek.
5. As part of an effort to undo the harms of the War on Drugs, certain criminal convictions don’t disqualify you from obtaining a license under Measure 109.
The War on Drugs has preyed upon people of color. They’re more likely to be stopped, searched, arrested, convicted, harshly sentenced and saddled with a lifelong criminal record. For example, nearly 80% of people in federal prison and almost 60% of people in state prison for drug offenses are Black or Latinx. To begin undoing some of these injustices, Measure 109 does not preclude people who have certain convictions for the manufacture or possession of cannabis or psilocybin to apply for licenses under Measure 109. In this way, people who have been victimized by the War on Drugs may begin to reap some of the benefits of legalized, regulated psilocybin facilitation.
6. Measure 109 allows Oregonians to apply for a license to manufacture psilocybin mushrooms.
You read that correctly. Once Measure 109 goes into effect, Oregonians who meet certain criteria will be able to apply for a license allowing them to manufacture psilocybin mushrooms. To learn more, read the text of the measure or visit the Oregon Health Authority’s website.
7. You can have a say in how Measure 109 is implemented!
Measure 109 created the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board, which is in the process of drafting recommendations to the Oregon Health Authority on the implementation of M109. Once that process is done, the Oregon Health Authority–the state agency responsible for implementing the law–will decide whether to adopt or modify those regulations in draft rules. OHA will schedule Rulemaking Advisory Committees that will meet to discuss the draft rules, and then a public comment period will follow (April and November of 2022). OHA will host public listening sessions to hear from the public (the next sessions will be scheduled this summer). All of the OPAB’s meetings are open to the public. To attend the meetings, read the text of the law, or sign up for their highly informative newsletter, visit the OHA website. We’ve gotten to know some of the good folks who are working on the implementation of Measure 109, and we’re confident that you’ll all be blown away by their heart, their intelligence, and their desire to make Measure 109 a success.
8. Measure 109 was adopted on the same day as Measure 110, which decriminalizes small amounts of all drugs.
On the same day that Oregon voters adopted Measure 109, they also adopted Measure 110, which decriminalizes small amounts of all drugs. Both measures become operative on the same day–January 2, 2023. That’s less than a year away! All of these substances remain illegal under federal law.
