The measure allows for the manufacturing and therapeutic use of psilocybin, a psychedelic drug produced by fungi.
The measure passed back in 2020, but individual cities and counties can still choose to ban the drug.
Some are still concerned about psilocybin creating issues similar to illegal cannabis.
Cameron Meeks who served on the OHA’s rules and advisory committee for psilocybin said that legalizing psilocybin will be nothing like cannabis.
“I think it’s completely sensible to opt in on it,” Meeks said.
Meeks said the manufacturing process will be much smaller for psilocybin compared to cannabis.
He said, “the concerns people have about these large-scale operations that could potentially be an eyesore or create black market economies, or anything along those lines, it’s not going to be possible.”
He said manufacturers will have limits on how many mushrooms they can grow depending on how many service centers are in the area.
“This notion that mushrooms potentially are the new cannabis, is a very short-sighted, if not foolish view of what’s going on in my opinion,” Meeks said.
He said OHA regulations will limit the amount of times someone can take psilocybin.
He also said the drug also does not have an addictive quality.
“The amount of consumption of these products is going to be limited to those experiences, there is no recreational availability whatsoever of any of these products,” Meeks said.
He said that there may be a push to legalize recreational psilocybin in the future, but he doesn’t think it’s likely.
“It’s just not the same, in any way,” Meeks said, “It’s so different from cannabis.”
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