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Oregon Health Authority Finalizes Rules for Psilocybin Services Act

On December 27, the Oregon Health Authority approved final rules regarding Oregon Psilocybin Services Act. Ballot Measure 109 was passed in November 2020. Later, ORS 475A was adopted.

The OHA’s final rules were created through recommendations from the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board, the Rules Advisory Committee, and public comments. The OHA initially released its first set of rules in May 2022. With the final rules in place, Oregon Psilocybin Services will accept applications starting Jan. 2, 2023 for the four types of licenses.

According to a letter co-written by André Ourso, Administrator of the Center for Health Protection, and Angie Allbee, Section Manager for OPS:

“OPS received over 200 written comments and six hours of comments shared in the public hearings during the November 2022 public comment period,” wrote Ourso and Allbee. “These comments helped to further refine and improve the rules, which have now been adopted as final. The final rules are a starting place for the nation’s first regulatory framework for psilocybin services, and we will continue to evaluate and evolve this work as we move into the future.”

These new rules include an option for microdosing with the hope that it will “increase access, equity, and affordability while ensuring public safety.” “The final rules on duration of administrative sessions have been revised to create a new tier for subperceptual doses. This is a product containing less that 2.5mg of psilocybinanalyte. After a client’s initial session, the minimum duration for a subperceptual dose of 2.5 mg of psilocybin analyte or less is 30 minutes.”

To best assist a broad range of patients, the OPS established guidelines for translating materials into English and Spanish. Numerous rules were created by OPS to ensure confidentiality, improve the application process, and provide limitations to applicants who may have thought about causing damage to their own health, as well as certain limits for women who are currently pregnant or nursing.

Fees will be lower for those who are eligible. The OPS may also offer more affordable options. “The final rules include reduced license fees for applicants who are veterans, receiving social security income, receiving food stamp benefits, or are enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan,” the OPS letter states. “Creating a more complicated tiered license fee structure is not feasible due to the work required to identify appropriate tiers and evaluate license applications and supporting documentation. This work would require more staff capacity, which would result in higher license fees overall.”

The OPS letter ends with a positive statement, despite the fact that applications are open in less than one week. “OPS will strive to support applicants in navigating license application requirements and will continue to provide technical assistance as we launch the nation’s first regulatory and licensing framework for psilocybin services,” the letter concludes.

Meanwhile in cannabis, end-of-year analysis discuss the past year’s oversupply issues. In December, the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis released a forecast that covered a variety of Oregon businesses. “Now, this is great news for consumers who can enjoy widely available products at low prices,” OEA economists wrote about the cannabis industry. “This is bad news for firms trying to operate a profitable business. One challenge there is even as businesses do leave the market, to date there has always been another willing to step in and take their place.”

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