Mental Health | The first psilocybin service center to be licensed by the Oregon Health Authority under the regulatory framework created by the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act was announced this month.
Oregon has 5 license types related to psilocybin services—manufacturer, laboratory, facilitator, worker, and service center. To date, Oregon Psilocybin Services (OPS) has issued 3 psilocybin manufacturer licenses, 1 laboratory license, 5 facilitator licenses, and 84 worker permits.
The licensure of the state’s first service center, a facility in Eugene, Oregon, known as EPIC Healing Eugene, was the final piece of the puzzle for psilocybin services to commence.
“This is such a historic moment as psilocybin services will soon become available in Oregon, and we appreciate the strong commitment to client safety and access as service center doors prepare to open,” Angie Allbee, Oregon Psilocybin Services (OPS) section manager, said in a news release.
Once licensed under Oregon law, service centers can employ and/or contract with licensed facilitators who have been trained in providing preparation, administration, and integration sessions to clients. Each licensed service center, as well as licensed facilitators who work for or with them, can set their own costs for service and manage their operations and communications.
EPIC Healing Eugene will provide access to psilocybin services to clients 21 years of age and older.
While clients will not be required to obtain prescriptions or referrals from healthcare providers, they must first complete a preparation session with a licensed facilitator. Clients who meet criteria for the service will be allowed to participate in an administration session at the center, where they will be monitored by a licensed facilitator.
Clients will then be offered the choice to join optional integration sessions, which include opportunities to connect with community resources and peer support networks.
While psychedelic service operations have been cleared by Oregon regulators, Kathryn L. Tucker, an attorney and patients’ rights advocate, recently told The Microdose, an independent newsletter supported by the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics, that facilities could still face legal hurdles at the federal level.
“The reality is that any such service center is a proverbial ‘sitting duck’ for federal enforcement action, which can include multimillion dollar fines and decades of imprisonment,” Tucker said.
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