Oregon Just Became the First State to Legalize Access to Magic Mushrooms

The Mexican magic mushroom is a psilocybe cubensis, whose main active elements are psilocybin and psilocin.Alexander_Volkov/Getty

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On Tuesday, Oregon passed a first-of-its-kind measure to formally legalize access to hallucinogenic mushrooms. Specifically, Measure 109 directs the state to establish and regulate a program whereby adults in the state will be able to consume psilocybin, a psychoactive compound found in magic mushrooms. As I wrote earlier this week:

[W]hat sets Measure 109 apart from [decriminalization] efforts is that it offers a legal pathway, specifically to psilocybin therapy. That is, rather than blocking penalties for possessing psychedelic products, it would establish a state-regulated program for using and obtaining them. In essence, accessing psilocybin as an adult in Oregon would be about as easy as signing up for counseling.

…Although it is radical, Measure 109 isn’t totally unprecedented. Decriminalizing psychedelics, or legalizing them in certain settings, has become more of a mainstream idea since the release of [food writer Michael] Pollan’s article [“The Trip Treatment”] and his subsequent best-selling 2018 book, How to Change Your Mind, amid a recent surge in research on the possible benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy. And, the movement follows a decades-long push to legalize marijuana, which activists say helped open the door for psychedelics. “I think cannabis really cleared the way in large part,” says David Bronner, the Cosmic Engagement Officer (aka CEO) of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, which has been a major supporter of Measure 109, as well as cannabis policy reform.

It was a big night for drug policy reform. In Oregon, voters also passed Measure 110, which decriminalizes several drugs, including psilocybin, as well as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine. It also funds drug addiction treatment. Voters in DC also seemed poised to overwhelmingly pass a measure to decriminalize magic mushrooms and other psychedelic plants. And so far tonight, New Jersey and Arizona passed measures to legalize recreational cannabis. 

Read more about Oregon’s psilocybin program initiative, and Dr. Bronner’s Soaps role in getting it passed.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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