Oregon’s Program Serves Its First Clients
This week, the first clients received services under Oregon’s groundbreaking psilocybin therapy program.
After passing at the ballot box in 2020, two years of rulemaking and countless hours of training, preparation and planning from everyone in this community, we’re finally here. And while only a few clients so far have had the opportunity to take advantage of Oregon’s program, we believe this is the beginning of a new approach to mental health that will ripple outward to communities in Oregon and across many other states.
We are not ignorant about the hard work in front of us. There are difficult issues we must address if psilocybin businesses and nonprofits are to be both viable and provide services to as many people as possible. That’s why we are working behind the scenes with advocates and insurance companies to push for liability policies that will adequately cover Oregon service center operators and facilitators in their work. It’s why we are working with elected officials, national psychedelic organizations and financial institutions to provide the community access to banking services.
And, it’s why we continue to provide educational opportunities, helping everyone working in this new healing modality understand how to comply and operate under the thicket of rules and regulations at different levels of government.
Sometimes these barriers to our work seem insurmountable. When I and many of my colleagues are struggling to find solutions, we often remind ourselves that the last several years have brought a remarkable sea change in American attitudes about the potential for psychedelic healing. As Jim Carrocio, the 71-year-old retired homebuilder who underwent psilocybin therapy at Bendable Therapy so aptly put it:
“It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced…thirty years of cognitive therapy didn’t do what six hours of psilocybin did.”
— Jim Carrocio, Retired Homebuilder
We’re so grateful to be working alongside you to help the many people who will heal in the coming months and years.
EVENTS
Registration Open for Horizons New York and Horizons Northwest
Horizons: Perspectives on Psychedelics
New York City: October 12-15
Portland, Oregon: December 1-3
Featuring talks on Psychedelics in Science and Medicine, Psychedelics in America and in the World. Speakers to be announced throughout August and September.
> Horizons New York Information and Registration
> Horizons Northwest Information and Registration
Workshop for Colorado Practitioners Interested in Providing Psychedelic Assisted Therapies
Join Sean McAllister, JD, and Holly Truhlar, JD, MA, for a 2-hour virtual workshop, “Navigating the Legal Landscape of Psychedelic Assisted Therapy.” They'll educate and empower psychedelic assisted therapy providers in understanding the legal aspects of their practice. Whether you are a therapist, nurse, doctor, coach, or other practitioner involved in psychedelic assisted therapy, this workshop is designed to provide essential insights and practical tools to help you navigate the legal landscape in Colorado and assess your risk tolerance.
> Register
In Case You Missed It: Oregon Psilocybin Program Facts or Myths
On August 3rd, we partnered with Emerge Law Group a webinar will dispel any confusion or misinformation you may have encountered (including cost of services, what’s really in Senate Bill 303 and more) and offered a comprehensive opportunity for questions, from the Oregon Health Authority's administrative rules, practical advice for psilocybin businesses, to the program's current stage of development.
> Watch the recording
RESOURCES
Banking Services Are Available Through the National Psychedelics Association
The National Psychedelics Association (www.yournpa.org) is partnering with an FDIC-member regional bank to provide banking services tailored to licensed service centers, training programs, and facilitators in the psychedelic-assisted care industry. This is an opportunity to establish a fully transparent banking relationship without having to withhold any business details. Operating in over 20 states, this financial partner is here for the industry’s long-term success. To learn more and get your application started, reach out to banking@yournpa.org.
New Blog Provides Latest Updates on Colorado Psychedelics Law
The Natural Medicine Health Act Tracker—a partnership between Psychedelic Alpha, a psychedelic medicine newsletter, and the Denver-based law firm Vicente LLP—provides updates on meetings of Colorado’s Natural Medicine Advisory Board (NMAB). The 15-member board began meeting regularly in April to craft recommendations to enable state agencies to successfully implement Prop. 122.
New Report: Equitable Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Care: An Urgent Need
BrainFutures is excited to share a new report that was released by The Bowman Family Foundation: Equitable Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Care: An Urgent Need. The report gives an overview of the overwhelming evidence of lack of access to mental health and substance use care in the United States. According to the report, the need for mental health and substance use services has reached an unprecedented peak, including equitable access to all levels and types of behavioral care that is clinically effective, timely, and sufficiently reimbursed by insurance providers.
The report includes concerning findings: more than half of all patients (57%) who sought mental health and substance use care were unable to access services on at least one occasion between January 2019 and April 2022; and 70% of adolescents lack access to care.
IN THE NEWS
Oregon’s First Psilocybin Client: 5 Questions for Retired Home Builder Jim Carroccio
The Microdose
Carroccio, thought to be the first person to receive psilocybin under Oregon’s new system, discusses his psilocybin experience.
In November 2020, Oregon voters passed Measure 109, a ballot initiative to create state-legal access to psilocybin services. For two years, Oregon Psilocybin Services worked with an advisory board to establish rules and regulations for psilocybin, and this year, the agency began licensing psilocybin manufacturers, service centers, testing labs, and facilitators. In mid-July 2023, The Microdose broke the news that a client in Bend, Oregon had undergone a guided psilocybin session through the non-profit Bendable Therapy.
Crenshaw and AOC Expect to Pass Bill Funding Psychedelic Clinical Studies for PTSD
Washington Examiner
Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Thursday they expect their bipartisan legislation to create a pathway for clinical studies for psychedelic drugs to treat post-traumatic stress disorder to pass the House in a floor vote on Friday.
Ocasio-Cortez said in a joint press conference with Crenshaw that they aim to "celebrate the enormous amount of progress being made in the study and advancement of psychedelics research and application for PTSD, our veterans community, as well as many other survivors across the country."
Can Psychedelic Therapy Fulfill Its Big Promise?
Washingtonian
A Rockville cancer clinic is at the forefront of a budding renaissance in psychedelic medicine. Can doctors there unlock the mental-health benefits of the long-banned drugs?
On the morning of October 6, 2020, Evan Craig was sliced from sternum to pelvis. The foot-plus incision was splayed open with a metal retractor, and several pairs of hands began to rummage through about 20 feet of pulsing bowel, searching for cancer. The surgery was maximally invasive: Surgeons lifted organs out of Craig’s body, scrutinized them, and excised any suspect tissue. Ordinarily, after eight or nine hours, a nurse would snake plastic tubes into his abdomen, then pump the cavity full of heated chemotherapy solution to kill any free-floating cancer cells. Not this time. Nobody in the operating suite had seen a case like this.
Coalition Pushing for Ballot Question to Legalize Psychedelics for Therapy in Mass.
wbur
Advocates are pushing to include a question on the 2024 ballot that would legalize the use of plant-based psychedelic substances for therapeutic use in Massachusetts.
The group, called Massachusetts for Mental Health Options, officially filed with the attorney general's office Wednesday morning.
The proposed law would create a commission to regulate the use of plant-based psychedelic substances like psilocybin mushrooms. People 21 and older would be able to legally consume psychedelics at a licensed therapy center.