Oregon regulators are threatening to revoke their approval of a psilocybin mushroom facilitator school that holds retreats in Southern Oregon and claims it should get religious exemptions.
Psilocybin mushrooms at Rose City Laboratories, March 17, 2023. Oregon regulators are threatening to revoke their approval of a psilocybin mushroom facilitator school, Myco-Method, that holds retreats in Southern Oregon and claims it should get religious exemptions.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
The Oregon Health Authority approved Myco-Method to train future psilocybin guides in March of 2023 as part of its roll-out of Measure 109 which created the county’s first regulatory framework for therapeutic psychedelic mushroom use. The OHA has so far approved over 20 schools to train psilocybin facilitators.
But, as the Willamette Week first reported, the problems began for Myco-Method when the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission became involved. That agency licenses private career schools, which now include psilocybin facilitator training programs. The agency didn’t approve Myco-Method at first because the group didn’t have enough reserve capital, according to the school’s founder Shasta Winn.
“Everything that they’re requiring is something that would involve changing a lot of the structure of how [Myco-method] was designed,” said Winn. She explained that Myco-Method is affiliated with an interfaith religious organization Saba Cooperative that’s not “motivated towards profit.”
Winn said that after clarification by HECC about what capital Myco-Method needed, she faced a different hurdle due to the agency requiring licensing fees of over $5,000 for each of her instructors rather than one fee for the entire school. She said the multiple required fees are required because Myco-Method does not operate one physical school. The in-person portion of her training is hosted at a variety of temporary locations, including Ashland.
Winn petitioned for religious exemption for HECC licensing requirements, which was denied. Now the OHA has told Winn her school could lose approval as soon as this summer.
In the meantime, Winn has filed a legal complaint against HECC. She also has a suit claiming Oregon’s psilocybin regulatory agencies violated antitrust laws and her constitutional rights due to their licensing requirements. She said around 20 students have gone through Myco-Method’s curriculum while her organization has been in regulatory limbo.
Winn said she believes in the power of psilocybin-guided therapy to help people. But she’s pessimistic about the legal framework created in Oregon.
“I do feel like it has the potential to really change people on a personal level, who can then really make the world a better place,” said Winn. “But I don’t see it being possible if it starts off in the same way of corrupt, money-driven… aggression.”
The OHA and HECC didn’t respond to requests for comment. The OHA told Winn she has until early July to request an administrative hearing on the topic. Winn said she plans to do that if her suits against the agencies are still pending.
Tags: Religion, Health, Medicine, Southern Oregon
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Oregon threatens to revoke approval of psilocybin school that claims religious exemption – Oregon Public Broadcasting
