Oregon centers begin providing psilocybin to clients

 In 2020, Oregon voters passed Measure 109, a ballot initiative that made Oregon the first state in the nation to legalize the use of the psychedelic drug psilocybin. It directed the Oregon Health Authority to create a framework to regulate and issue licenses for the manufacture, testing, sale and use of psilocybin in supervised settings. Clients 21 and older can buy and consume psilocybin in licensed service centers in Oregon without a doctor’s prescription. In 2021, the Oregon Health Authority Psilocybin Advisory Board reviewed clinical trials, medical studies and other scientific data on the use of psilocybin and concluded that it “holds promise as an option to address mental health issues,” but it remains classified as an illegal drug at the federal level. 

In May, EPIC Healing Eugene became the first licensed service center in Oregon and began seeing clients in June. Satya Therapeutics in Ashland is another licensed service center and also has a license to manufacture psilocybin to its clients whom it started seeing in July. We hear from Cathy Jonas, the owner of EPIC Healing Eugene, and Andreas Met, the co-founder and CEO of Satya Therapeutics, about their client experiences so far operating in the uncharted business of offering psychedelics as a service.