Supporters of making psychedelic mushrooms legal as a drug therapy in Oregon believe they have collected enough signatures to put the measure before the state's voters in November, The Oregonian is reporting.
Sheri and Tom Eckert told a Zoom press conference Monday they have collected 164,782 signatures and just need election officials to verify them.
If placed on the ballot and approved, psilocybin would be allowed to be administered by licensed professionals in controlled doses, The Oregonian said.
It would make Oregon the first state to allow psilocybin following the cities of Oakland, California, and Denver, which already have legalized it.
"Pioneering research at institutions like Johns Hopkins, NYU, and UCLA has shown the significant promise of psilocybin therapy, especially for people whose depression or anxiety hasn't responded to other available treatments," according to a press release Monday by the Eckerts' Oregon Psilocybin Therapy Initiative.
The Oregonian said psilocybin is classified as a Schedule I drug, which the Drug Enforcement Administration defines as "drugs, substances, or chemicals with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse."
Other drugs in the category include heroin, LSD, ecstasy, and methaqualone.
Voter approval would "empower the Oregon Health Authority to set up all licensing, training, certification, and ongoing education requirements for psilocybin service centers and facilitators during a mandated two-year development process," the release said.
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