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Magic mushrooms banned in 25 Oregon counties, over 100 cities


Map shows counties in green that will move forward with legalization and counties in red that will opt out. (KATU){p}{/p}
Map shows counties in green that will move forward with legalization and counties in red that will opt out. (KATU)

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With election results called for most of Oregon's races, it's become clear where the therapeutic use of psilocybin, commonly known as magic mushrooms, will be available.

Measure 109, legalizing the use of psilocybin in controlled and therapeutic settings, was passed by Oregon voters in 2020. The measure allowed municipalities to opt out of legalizing by sending it to their voters again.

The 25 counties seen in red on the below map voted to opt out along with over 100 cities.

During meetings leading up to the election, many of the state's rural county and city officials expressed concerns that allowing the hallucinogen in controlled settings would open up a door for black market manufacturing and sales.

"I do have concerns we are a little head shy about time, place and manner because of what happened with marijuana," said Jackson County Commissioner Colleen Roberts during a July meeting.

Some officials expressed concerns that rolling out the rules would be a trial-and-error process.

"I just know how bad the state stumbled with the rollout of the marijuana stuff, being involved with that first hand," said McMinnville City Councilor Adam Garvin.

The city ended up sending it back to voters, who elected to opt out.

Advocates for the treatment argue that unlike marijuana, magic mushrooms can be cultivated in a small indoor space, providing little incentive to illegal growers to create a legal front in states that allow the substance. Advocates also say the substance could save lives as some research shows it's been effective in aiding with depression, PTSD and addiction.

Bob and Amber Parnell are both veterans and have been married 27 years. In June, the two attended a psilocybin treatment in Jamaica, where it's legal.

"Amber had reserved the experience or the retreat because I suffered from alcoholism," Bob said explaining that re-integrating into civilian life after retiring from service had left him feeling hopeless.

"At one point I was a first sergeant, and so I was responsible for people's lives, people's training, and I had a mission to help other soldiers," he said. "When I retired going from military to civilian life, honestly was a shock because it wasn't the guy on my right, and the guy on my left are looking out for me. The guy on my right and the guy on my left are looking to stab me in the back so they can take my position."

He said that, coupled with the lack of structure that exacerbated his ADHD, triggered him to drink excessively.

Amber Parnell said the retreat, which they attended together, not only helped him with his addiction recovery, but it also helped them in their marriage.

"He had obviously been drinking for a long time, but I didn't know and when it kind of all exploded, he went to rehab and then to sober living, and he was gone for six months," she said. "When he came home, I was still processing my trauma and issues. He was sober and had learned all these great tools, but he was also trying to re-integrate with the family that he had been separated from for six months. We were struggling with communication -- just all kinds of things that you would expect."

The Parnells say they feel the treatment coupled with therapy and a willingness to change could be the formula that many need to survive.

"We talked a lot about cravings and things, and he says it's just completely different to me; it's a life-saving thing, and I get really passionate about the fact that it's not accessible," Amber Parnell said.

The treatment is now legal in 20 of Oregon's most populated cities and in 11 counties where the measure passed.

Six counties, pictured below in purple, saw officials sending an opt-out measure back to their electorate despite the fact that it passed in 2020.

Of those counties, Clackamas, Clatsop, Curry and Tillamook flipped voting to opt out of legalizing the hallucinogen. Jackson and Deschutes counties both voted to allow it yet again.

On Nov. 23, Jackson County commissioners are set to decide whether to approve time, place and manner restriction recommendations made by planning commissioners.

The planning commission had initially drafted rules that would only allow psilocybin service centers in commercial zones (which the county's unincorporated areas have few of). After a public meeting saw testimony from a number of supporters of the treatment, the planning commission ultimately decided to recommend that it be allowed in most zones.

"The public process worked. Folks came in, we testified as to what the reality of a service center is," said Mike Arnold, founder of Silo Wellness, Oregon's sole publicly traded psychedelics company.

The company runs the psilocybin retreats that the Parnells attended in Jamaica and has signed a letter of intent for a joint venture with New Frontier Ranch, a 960-acre property outside of Ashland in rural Jackson County.

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