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Category: Oregon

Oregon Psilocybin Service Centers Set High Prices, Thousands Have Already Waitlisted

September 19, 2023 Published by

An estimated 3,000 people are now on a waitlist for Oregon’s first legal and operating psilocybin service center. EPIC Healing Eugene opened in June but is one of many psilocybin service centers that are still working on beginning operation.

“Our services focus on deep healing work, mindfulness, empowerment, spirituality, and transformation through psilocybin facilitation and integration,” EPIC Healing Eugene states on its website. “We teach self-help strategies that support self-directed personal development and brain change. We help you prepare for a healing shift that will help you get the most out of your experiential journeys. Our skilled and supportive staff offer preparation sessions, followed by integration sessions to help you better recognize and incorporate the gems of insight from your psychedelic experiences into your daily life.”

While patients don’t need a prescription or referral in order to take advantage of EPIC Healing Eugene’s services, their insurance also won’t cover such an experience. AP News stated that the price to try this new experience can exceed more than $2,000, which covers the business cost of the service center, as well as facilitators who assist participants through their experience, and lab-tested psilocybin. However, group pricing reduces the overall price.

According to Angela Allbee, Oregon Psilocybin Services (OPS) Section Manager, patients appear to be enjoying their experiences since EPIC opened. “So far, what we’re hearing is that clients have had positive experiences,” she told AP News. Allbee also mentioned that they’ve received inquiries from across the world.

In November 2020, Oregon voters pass Measure 110 officially became the first state to decriminalize hard drugs such as heroin or methamphetamine, and also legalized the use of psilocybin mushrooms for therapeutic use. By December 2022, the state was training facilitators to care for participants experiencing their psilocybin journey.

It took until May 2023 to approve the first license, which belonged to EPIC Healing Eugene. “We want to congratulate Cathy Jonas of EPIC Healing Eugene on being the first licensed service center in the state,” Allbee said at the time. “This is such a historic moment as psilocybin services will soon become available in Oregon, and we appreciate the strong commitment to client safety and access as service center doors prepare to open.”

As of September, there are 10 licensed service centers (a few of which are not yet operational), four growers, two testing laboratories, and “dozens of facilitators,” according to AP News. 

EPIC Healing Eugene states on its website that it specifically offers macrodosing, ranging between 10 mg to 35 mg (although the state allows these service centers to offer up to 50 mg). However, the service center hopes to include microdosing in the future. Once it has been verified if participants are ready for such an experience, they must undergo two one-hour sessions (or one two-hour session) for preparation. A single psilocybin administration session takes approximately six hours. Once the session has completed, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) requires that all forms and documentation be kept for five years. 

According to EPIC Healing Eugene owner Cathy Jonas, she’s not expecting to turn a profit anytime soon. Instead, it’s more of a calling to help others. “The plant medicines have communicated to me that I’m supposed to be doing this thing,” she told AP News. 

One of Jonas’ first clients took a 35 mg dose, which they described as “… kind of infinite-dimension fractal that just kept turning and twisting.” “It was kind of mesmerizing to watch, but it got so intense,” explained the unnamed individual. “I started to have this experience of dying and being reborn. And then I would kind of see large portions of my life going by in a very rapid way.”

Additionally, another psilocybin service center called Omnia Group Ashland opened in September in southern Oregon as well. So far, it has approximately 150 people on its waitlist. Another center in Bend, Oregon, called Lucid Cradle, is already booked through December 2023, but plans to serve one client per week.

Mushroom cultivation differs quite a bit from cannabis cultivation. One of Oregon’s licensed mushroom growers, Gared Hansen of Uptown Fungus, is the sole person cultivating psilocybin for his business. He grows mushroom varieties such as Golden Teacher, Blue Meanies, and Pink Buffalo, with an average cost of $125 for a 25 mg dose.

Hansen emphasizes the importance of purchasing mushrooms for legal sources, because mushrooms often look similar, and some may be an incorrect and poisonous variety to the untrained eye. “Sometimes part of the healing could be a negative experience someone has to go through, to kind of flush negative emotions out or reexperience some trauma in a healthier way,” said Hansen. “I’d hate to have someone that’s never tried it before take it home, have a bad trip and hurt themselves.”

According to a recent report from Willamette Weekly, Oregon Psilocybin Services have not yet yielded a groundbreaking amount of money from fees, noting that it currently costs more to run the program. “Backers of Measure 109 said the program would cost far more—$3.1 million a year—to run,” the outlet stated. “To fill at least part of that gap, Oregon lawmakers appropriated $3.1 million from the taxpayer-supported general fund for the two-year period that started July 1. OHA is betting that shroom fee revenue will pick up as the biennium proceeds, making up the rest of the shortfall,”

The post Oregon Psilocybin Service Centers Set High Prices, Thousands Have Already Waitlisted appeared first on High Times.

Report: Despite Promises, Oregon’s Psilocybin Program Not Paying For Itself

September 1, 2023 Published by

According to Willamette Weekly, nearly three years after voters in the state approved a ballot measure to legalize it, “Oregon Psilocybin Services is nowhere near paying its own way,” despite promises from its backers that “Oregonians would get access to a life-changing compound in a safe, legal setting, and, after a two-year startup period, it wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime.”

The outlet noted that advocates of the 2020 ballot proposal, Measure 109, asserted that the licensing fees paid “by mushroom growers, testing labs, trip facilitators and service centers would cover the costs of a new bureaucracy within the Oregon Health Authority.”

That has been far from the case.

“Fee revenue is anemic because too few people are seeking the various licenses (“Stuffed Mushrooms,” WW, May 24). Just four manufacturers, two testing labs, and eight service centers have been licensed. All three types of entities pay a one-time fee of $500 and then $10,000 a year to operate. Many more facilitators have been approved (88), but they pay only $150 up front and then $2,000 annually,” Willamette Weekly reported in a story published on Wednesday. 

“So far this year, Psilocybin Services has raised just $318,419 in fees, OHA says. That’s in line with estimates by WW. Tallying the number of permits issued and multiplying by all the fees, we came up with a total of $342,425 since the program began licensing participants on Jan. 2.”

“Backers of Measure 109 said the program would cost far more—$3.1 million a year—to run. To fill at least part of that gap, Oregon lawmakers appropriated $3.1 million from the taxpayer-supported general fund for the two-year period that started July 1. OHA is betting that shroom fee revenue will pick up as the biennium proceeds, making up the rest of the shortfall,” the outlet continued.

Measure 109 passed in 2020 by a fairly narrow vote, with 50% of Oregon voters approving and 44% voting against. It made Oregon the first state in the country to legalize psilocybin. 

In the spring, Oregon Psilocybin Services, a regulatory arm of the Oregon Health Authority, announced that it had awarded the state’s first license for a psilocybin service center in Eugene. 

Oregon Psilocybin Services (OPS) Section Manager Angie Allbee called it “a historic moment as psilocybin services will soon become available in Oregon, and we appreciate the strong commitment to client safety and access as service center doors prepare to open.” 

At the time of the announcement, Oregon Psilocybin Services offered a refresher on how the program will work.

“Under the statewide model, clients 21 years of age or older may access psilocybin services. While they won’t need prescriptions or referrals from healthcare providers, clients must first complete a preparation session with a licensed facilitator. If they meet the criteria to move forward, they may participate in an administration session at a licensed service center, where they may consume psilocybin products in the presence of a trained and licensed facilitator,” the agency explained. “Afterwards, clients may choose to join optional integration sessions, which offer opportunities to be connected to community resources and peer support networks for additional support. Once licensed, service centers can employ and/or contract with licensed facilitators who are trained in providing preparation, administration, and integration sessions to clients. Service centers will sell psilocybin products that were produced by licensed manufacturers and tested by licensed laboratories. To date, OPS has issued three manufacturer licenses, one laboratory license, five facilitator licenses, and 84 worker permits. OPS expects to issue more licenses and worker permits in the coming months.”

The state finalized the rules for the psilocybin program at the end of last year.

Albee and André Ourso, the administrator of the Center for Health Protection in Oregon, said at the time that Oregon Psilocybin Services “received over 200 written comments and six hours of comments shared in the public hearings during the November 2022 public comment period.”

“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,” they said.

In response to this week’s report by Willamette Weekly, Oregon Health Authority spokesman Afiq Hisham urged patience.

“It takes time to build a new section in state government and to become 100% fee-based, specifically because ORS 475A is the nation’s first regulatory framework for psilocybin services and required an intensive two-year development period,” Hisham told Willamette Weekly.

The post Report: Despite Promises, Oregon’s Psilocybin Program Not Paying For Itself appeared first on High Times.

Quartz is Key

August 26, 2023 Published by

Innovations in functional glass date back decades. Long ago smokers discovered that glass didn’t get as hot as metal and didn’t burn their fingers when a flame was applied. The double chamber tube bong, arguably the first “percolator,” arrived at the scene in 1979. During the ’80s, colored glass techniques and spoon pipes started gaining popularity. Glass development continued to grow in the ’90s with ice catchers and the beginnings of water filtration and diffusion, usually with the goal to cool down the temperature of smoke and vapor.

Black Market Glass was founded in 2011 in Portland, Oregon the same time when big innovations in dabbing started to appear on the scene, which eventually led to modern dab rigs. The owner of Black Market Glass, Paul, is a full-time glass blower.

“I have spent years building up this business, with help as well from other badass employees and collaborators,” Paul said.

As time goes on, people’s tastes in cannabis change. Today more people than ever are dabbing concentrates, which can be vaporized using a torch to heat a nail. This means nails require a medium—quartz—which has a much higher melting point than glass.

“My goal initially was just to innovate with glass mediums,” Paul said. “We started in the glass/bong side of the industry in 2011 [with] mostly bongs and transitioned to quartz in 2017. By 2020, we moved over to exclusively quartz products. We are inspired the most by pushing the medium of quartz, and concentrate-related items.”

Photo by Marvin Lee, @surface_area999

Black Market Glass Emerges

In 2011, with experience in the field making pipes and running distribution in the Pacific Northwest, Paul uprooted from eastern Washington and moved to Portland, Oregon to pursue lathe work for a company that eventually moved into the bong market. It was around that time that glassmakers came up with a unique idea that had the potential to explode with popularity: the Rooster Apparatus. The Rooster Apparatus included a fritted disc (also called a frit disc), which is a glass element designed to diffuse a hit though a number of different holes. A frit disc is outfitted with more holes than honeycombs (a glass disc filled with holes arranged in a honeycomb pattern).

“Doing this contract production work taught me to master the medium, [gain] a different way of viewing the market, and the recipe or formula to plant my flag,” Paul said.

In addition to diffusing vapor, the porous glass in a frit disc also filters out solid particles, similar to filter paper.

“Instead of modifying existing diffusers or percolators, the Rooster introduced a totally different way of scrubbing and cooling glasses with a modified frit disc from the laboratory scene,” Paul said. “So we went with the same ideology but with quartz. While many spent their time reinventing the wheel by adding additional bells and whistles to already existing utilities, we decided to offer a different form of transportation to the quartz world.”

After a little trial-and-error, Paul said he realized his team was on to something.

“Stumbling through this exploration required throwing dozens of idea darts before we got some to land on the target, as well as some evolution in the customer, expanding the value of what could be created,” Paul said. “Remember this all started with $50 quartz nails, with a borosilicate dome that went on a male joint rig, a little over a decade ago. So as the customers’ budget for new quartz innovations grew, the more elaborate the designs became.”

Photo by Marvin Lee, @surface_area999

Black Market Glass Innovations

The shape of glass and quartz pieces affects how the terps transition into vapor. The thickness of the piece will affect the retention of the heat, but technique and understanding of each model’s operation, as well as the quality of dabs in perfect harmony, will deliver the best terps.

“Quartz is used because of its incredible ability to withstand extreme temperature fluctuations as well as hold heat in a unique way, making it ideal for vapor technology,” Paul said. “Our job and field of study is defining the parameters to use quartz in utilitarian ways in variation—invention, with style. Part of our goal is to provide variation in how your terps are vaporized, the timing, the size, longevity.”

Between 2011-2015 Black Market Glass redesigned the nail and dome system by offering its domeless nail—a tube with four cuts. This meant that customers no longer had to set a dome to dab. For the quartz honeycomb (which became available in 2017), Black Market Glass released a multi-capillary nail, made using multiple tubes of glass stacked together in a barrel formation, which the company applied to the tip of a nectar collector.

The brand’s UV quartz in blue, yellow, and red (2019) was also something new.

“Wanting to add a little bit of pizazz to our mundanely clear medium, we reacted to the science industry for other types of quartz,” Paul said. “And found that not only did we achieve some cool aesthetics but also a function attribute of faster heat ups, through increased conductivity.”

Photo by Marvin Lee, @surface_area999

The Blender (2020) and the Terpnado (2022) are the first of their kind, Paul explained. They feature spiral sandblasted intakes that put a spin on incoming air, and deliver a significant amount of rotational airflow to the concentrates, which promotes even distribution of heat and vaporization, he explained.

The Globstopper (2021) is the first of Black Market Glass’s quartz products to feature centripetal force.

“Unlike centrifugal force, centripetal force brings everything to the center during rotation,” Paul explained. “Suppressors, on the other hand, combine the technology of our Globstopper Series, centripetal, with our Blender/Slurper Series, centrifugal. We created an additional row of micro jets, placed directly below the arm, giving the rising oil a little push back down, minimizing the amount of oil that will make it down the joint and into your piece.”

All of Black Market Glass quartz products are 100% handmade by a small and dedicated crew in Portland.

“Every model is American-made down to the joint,” Paul said. “All accessories are handmade by us, or are collaborations with other artists we work with. Each design we carefully detail to make sure they are flawless.”

Paul estimates that 90% of the products on the Black Market Glass website are made in-house, and the only exceptions are typically torches, temp readers, and other parts. Black Market Glass has recently done some quartz and borosilicate accessory collaborations with Blossom Glass Art. They collaborate with various borosilicate artists on accessories often and are always looking to create new things with fellow quartz makers.

“Part of our business has a shared vision and goal of supporting artists with art. Black Market has helped me create a storefront for raw glass material for boro[silicate] artists in the Portland area, Boro Glass Supply,” Paul said. “We are a small business with inspiration, and we want to lift other small businesses with the love of art and innovation.”

This article was originally published in the July 2023 issue of High Times Magazine.

The post Quartz is Key appeared first on High Times.

Oregon Governor Rejects Cannabis Banking Bill

August 15, 2023 Published by

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek recently rejected a bill that would have created a State Public Bank Task Force. The 19-person team would have studied the pros and cons related to a cannabis business banking solution in the form of a public bank and would have proposed recommendations for implementation. 

Chief sponsors included Rep. Mark Gamba, Rep. Jules Walters, and Sen. Jeff Golden, who introduced House Bill 2763 in January. The bill steadily made its way through the House and Senate and was passed by both by the end of June before it was vetoed by Kotek on Aug. 4.

In a press statement published on July 28 to cover her thoughts on “potential vetoes,” Kotek said that she took issue with HB-2763. “Reason for possible objection: While the Governor supports exploring the creation of a state bank, this bill has several logistical challenges, including directing the Oregon Business Development Department (OBDD), which already manages over 80 programs, to manage a new task force, establish an RFP process, and finalize a substantive report on an abbreviated timeline,” the notice stated.

Had HB-2763 been approved, it would have explored “potential benefits and harms from the bank to state and local jurisdictions and private industries,” as well as “governing and corporate structures for the bank” and other goals. Ultimately, the task force’s research would have served as a way to create a publicly controlled bank that would save public dollars, and “spur greater economic activity within this state.” The task force would have also provided a detailed report of its findings on or before September 2024.

Furthermore, both committees sought to “…analyze challenges and barriers to providing banking services to legal adult-use cannabis businesses and examine pathways to allowing banking services to the burgeoning cannabis industry in New York.”

Banking access for cannabis businesses is an issue nationwide, and other states have attempted to pass legislation to ensure the safety of cannabis business owners as well as further legitimize the industry.

In March 2022, Pennsylvania legislators Rep. John DiSanto and Rep. Sharif Street proposed a cannabis banking bill. “Access to financial and insurance services is essential for operating any business, and it is against the public interest to relegate a multi-billion-dollar industry to deal in piles of cash,” said DiSanto. “Banking this cash safely in Pennsylvania provides certainty for businesses, is a huge opportunity to grow our economy and should ultimately lower costs for medical cannabis consumers.” Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed the legislation in July 2022.

Last October, Rep. Dan Donovan and former Indiana Pacers NBA athlete David Harrison proposed a banking solution called Token HiFi which would have offered a safe and reliable solution for cannabis banking services.

In December, the most recent attempt to get the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act was introduced again, but it was left out of the National Defense Appropriations Act (NDAA). The Senate Majority Leader has led many efforts to get the bill passed, and although it has been met with opposition, progress continues to be made. “It’s a priority for me,” Schumer said about the bill last year. “I’d like to get it done. We’ll try and discuss the best way to get it done.”

At the time, Republican opponents such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of including “unrelated” items in the defense bill. “Even now, House and Senate Democrats are still obstructing efforts to close out the NDAA by trying to jam in unrelated items with no relationship to defense,” said McConnell. “We’re talking about a grab bag of miscellaneous pet priorities—like making our financial system more sympathetic to illegal drugs, or the phony, partisan permitting-‘reform’-in-name-only language that already failed to pass the Senate this year.”

Earlier this year in May, the New York Assembly Standing Committee on Banks and the Assembly Standing Committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce, and Industry held a hearing to discuss its benefits. “Operating a cash-only business raises challenges including security, payroll, access to loan products, and recordkeeping,” the public hearing memo stated. “These challenges impact both the legal cannabis-related businesses and the banks seeking to provide services.”

The post Oregon Governor Rejects Cannabis Banking Bill appeared first on High Times.

OLCC Official Files Claim Against Oregon Governor

August 2, 2023 Published by

Former Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) director Steve Marks led the agency for almost a decade but was fired in January. Now Marks is fighting back and claiming that Gov. Tina Kotek fired him because of the influence of a cannabis business owner.

According to the Willamette Week, Marks recently filed a tort claim notice (or a notice of claim against a specific agency to address wrongdoing and announce plans to sue) in Oregon, claiming that Rosa Cazares, CEO of La Mota, and her partner, Aaron Mitchell, who contributed to Kotek’s gubernatorial campaign, had a part in the decision that led to his firing. “Marks was summarily forced out of office by Gov. Tina Kotek in early 2023 because Rosa Cazares, prominent owner of one of Oregon’s largest dispensary chains and an opponent of cannabis regulations, wanted him gone,” the claim states, as submitted by attorney William Gary. “Cazares placed herself in close orbit to the governor and to then-Secretary of State Shemia Fagan.”

Cazares and Mitchell gave $68,000 to Kotek when she was running for governor (she took office in January). They also had a monthly $10,000 contract to fund Fagan—an arrangement that led to Fagan’s resignation in May.

Willamette Week added that Kotek has denied having any partnership with Cazares and Mitchell, but Marks’ tort claim challenges that statement. The case also points to a 2018 event where Cazares and Mitchell were accused of contributing 148 pounds of cannabis to the black market. The case was settled from 2020, which was the same year that records show Cazares and Mitchell were contributing funds to various politicians.

“In short, because Marks supported and carried out regulations that Cazares saw as onerous, she bought his ouster through financial graft,” the claim stated. “It was under Marks’ leadership that OLCC adopted and enforced the regulatory framework that Cazares sought to dismantle…Accordingly, Cazares turned her sights to removing Marks from office.”

In a letter written by Gary, there was no explanation for why Kotek fired Marks. “Governor Kotek did not provide—and she still has not provided—any reason for having pushed Marks out of his position, and Marks was provided no other notice or opportunity to contest the reasons for that action,” Gary wrote.

In May, Kotek told OregonLive that she fired Marks because she wanted to see new leadership at the head of the OLCC, but alleged that Cazares and Mitchell “…had no bearing on the decision I made,” Kotek said. She claimed that replacing Marks was one of many changes she made when she took office. She also added that she wasn’t supportive of a new state liquor warehouse in Canby, Oregon planned by the OLCC, which would cost millions of dollars. Under Marks’ leadership, the OLCC spent $84 million on bonding authority for that warehouse, but eventually made a deal to pay $40.7 million for 33 acres for the warehouse to be paid by the state.

“The freshest thing in my mind was the issue around the new warehouse because when I was on the campaign trail I remember having quite a few expletives about the deal on that warehouse and I was like, come on, you’ve been at this for eight years and we got a bad deal on that warehouse?” Kotek said. “He was on a list that was like I think we need a new direction here.” But she also said she had made the decision to fire Marks prior to her knowledge of the warehouse deal.

In 2022, six OLCC managers (Marks included) were caught setting aside Pappy Van Winkle bourbon from Kentucky for themselves in an investigation. All of them were reprimanded, and eventually they were all either fired or resigned from their positions.

The post OLCC Official Files Claim Against Oregon Governor appeared first on High Times.

Only 24.4% of Cannabis Operators Profitable Due to 280E, Other Challenges

July 13, 2023 Published by

A new report on the U.S. cannabis market is making the rounds, and paints a pretty dire picture of where the industry is today economically, with just 24.4% of survey respondents saying their business is profitable. High Times recently sat down with Beau Whitney, the CEO of Whitney Economics, who headed up the economic analysis of the data their survey found to get a more complete picture. 

No Longer Able to ‘Work from Stoned’ Harms Cannabis Economy

You might remember when the COVID-19 pandemic started in the spring of 2020, many states said cannabis was an essential industry that couldn’t be closed down and cannabis sales were “booming.” Unfortunately, behavioral changes after the pandemic have taken a toll. “People could no longer Work from Stoned,” which Beau said “hurt the industry at a time when they needed more revenue but [received] less.” While Whitney’s data found that just ten out of 36 state markets were not growing, “The growth is coming from states that just launched, and while they are growing, it is a much smaller chunk of the total cannabis market.” The ten states that weren’t growing included large, mature markets like Colorado, California, Oregon, and Washington. 

Oregon: Regional Bias or a Harbinger of Things to Come?

The report admits there was a “strong regional bias, as Oregon-based respondents made up nearly 90% of the total.” That means that out of the 224 responses received, just 24 were from operators outside of Oregon. As any longtime observer of cannabis markets will note, Oregon’s cannabis economy has been struggling for over half a decade, to the point where many cannabis cultivators jumped into the hemp market. As Beau lives in Oregon, he is no stranger to the struggles of their local cannabis industry and made many attempts to control for the regional bias in the responses they received by triangulating the data – using more than one data point. 

“I do a lot of expert witness testimony and have been doing individual state-level research,’ said Beau, which is why he knows “Michigan is mirroring Oregon, with too much capacity, too much supply, and a strong illicit market.” Beyond his research, Beau followed up on the survey by “calling business leaders.” All of the data from states less represented in the survey “indicated that Oregon was a harbinger of things to come.”

Plans for Next Year’s Survey

Their first two years, Whitney created an annual report, but they are trying “to go from an annual to a quarterly survey.” As a result, Beau said they “will likely trim down the number of questions.” 

The reason why there was such a strong representation of Oregon-based operators is that Oregon’s cannabis regulators sent the survey out directly to their licensees. Other than Oregon, the only two states where they had such strong regulator participation were Washington and, surprisingly, South Dakota. Next year will be a different story. Beau now has stronger relations with the Michigan regulators, expects more support from Colorado regulators, and has better relationships with business leaders in Florida; all states that were notable omissions in this year’s data. Beau also mentioned that “the Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA) sees a lot more value in this data and supports me more than they did previously,” and their support could help expand his available pool of data significantly. 

Necessary Reforms to Save the Industry

The key factors limiting growth are IRS tax code 280E, “a lack of access to banking, a limited demand market because supply and demand are all in one state, and the influence of the illicit market.” Whitney’s survey data and Beau’s personal research have revealed some policy reforms that could save the cannabis industry. Beau’s top policy solutions are safe banking, which “lowers the cost of capital,” 280E reform, which would relieve “up to 70% taxes in some cases,” and opening up interstate commerce to deal with imbalances of supply and demand. Beau did an analysis of 280E taxes earlier this year and found that “the cannabis industry paid $1.8 billion more in taxes than if they had been treated like any other business.” 

Beau put in practical terms, “There is a threshold for economic viability that must be met to account for product acquisition, labor, and federal taxes.” He pegged that threshold at around $2.5 million a year currently, but with 280E reform that threshold goes down to $1.5 million, which greatly raises the chance for success. “280E is doing exactly what it was supposed to do when it was designed 40 years ago,” said Beau, which is to make it impossible to run a business profiting from the sale of federally illegal drugs. Beau cautions that “while it sounds doom and gloom,” and he doesn’t anticipate growth until the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, the businesses that survive “will thrive in 2025 when growth takes off again.”

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Oregon Aims To Crack Down on Illegal Cannabis by Holding Landowners Responsible

June 12, 2023 Published by

If cannabis growers in Oregon don’t clean up their act, literally, soon landowners will pay the price as their migrant workers risk deportation. Oregon is an oasis for cannabis growing. According to AP News, a leader of the state’s cannabis and alcohol regulatory agency has said southern Oregon is to marijuana what Bordeaux is to wine. 

However, some folks with less-than-ideal ethics risk ruining the land for everyone. The state is facing a crisis of illicit growers who offer large amounts of cash upfront to lease or buy land. However, giving cannabis a bad name, it seems they are only growing for profit and not considering other factors such as the fate of the land or their workers. Such growers are leaving behind a drained water table, pollution, and garbage scattered everywhere. Now, Oregon Legislature is trying to pass a new bill to curtail such adverse effects by making the landowners themselves directly responsible. 

If passed, the bill would stop using groundwaters and rivers — and seize documents of the migrant workers who take care of the plants, thereby reporting them for deportation, AP News reports. And, if the landowner, regardless if they caused it, does not pay for any cleanup, then the government would be allowed to file a claim of lien against property used for illicit cannabis. 

So far, the bill has passed in the Senate and House, with Speaker Dan Rayfield signing the measure on Wednesday, despite protests from some Republicans. “This is just an assault on property rights here in the state of Oregon,” GOP Sen. Dennis Linthicum said on the Senate floor. 

If all goes as planned, Oregon’s Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek will sign the bill next week. “The governor supports cracking down on illegal cannabis operations that have been prevalent in southern Oregon,” said Elisabeth Shepard, Kotek’s spokesperson.

In this economy, it’s understandable why some landowners transferred their land to sketchy buyers or leasers. AP News describes buyers handing over backpacks with thousands of dollars in cash and, sometimes, more than one backpack of bills to choose from. “We pay CASH and offer a fast close,” says one letter received by a landowner last year in one of three offers.

But not everyone is sympathetic to the appeal of fast cash. Democratic Sen. Jeff Golden said property owners should know something wrong if they are “approached at the beginning of the growing season with requests to lease their property for tens, sometimes hundreds of thousand dollars for a single year.”

According to Oregon police, part of the problem is that the lush land brought in an influx of foreign criminals from everywhere, from Russia to Mexico, looking to profit in America’s cannabis market. So many hoop houses (cheaply built greenhouses) began popping up that local authorities didn’t have the workforce to shut them all down. The farms in question are known for putting up their workers in horrid conditions, with open latrines, and will often dock their pay. 

And, according to Jackson County Sheriff Nathan Sickler, when the growers wrap up, no one bothers to clean up any of the waste, whether it’s from an outhouse or greenhouse. “Frankly, it’s an eyesore for our community, with no means to deal with it,” Sickler said.

While the prospect of the bill stresses many landowners out, others welcome it, AP reports. At least most of the landowners knew what they were doing was wrong. I believe this measure will help to stem the tide,” said Jack Dwyer, a homeowner near Selm, Oregon. Back in 2021, Dwyer said a large illicit nearby grow siphoned all the water from a creek that runs through his property, causing it to run dry. And Christopher Hall, whose job it is to engage the public in water stewardship, believes the bill will finally address the problem. Hall says that these cash-bought illegal grow farms “not only turn streams into gravel roads but also lead to serious human rights violations and dumping of trash, sewage, chemicals, and other waste into ditches, riparian areas, and streams.” 

The post Oregon Aims To Crack Down on Illegal Cannabis by Holding Landowners Responsible appeared first on High Times.

Presenting the High Times Cannabis Cup Oregon: People’s Choice Edition 2023

May 12, 2023 Published by

In one of the most beautiful states in the U.S., the High Times Cannabis Cup Oregon: People’s Choice Edition returns for the first time since 2020. Oregonians, get ready to see what cannabis business owners in your state are made of!

Back in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, High Times endeavored to bring its People’s Choice Edition to Oregon. In January 2021, the winners list showed heavy hitters like Strawberry Guava, Mimosa, Platinum Candy Mintz, and Blueberry Muffins take first prize. Pre-rolls and concentrates made from Banana Punch Live Rosin, while Tropicanna Cookies Solventless Rosin Vapes and a variety of delicious infused chocolates from brands like Crop Circle Chocolate, Alchemy Naturals (previously known as Lunchbox Alchemy) and baked foods from Hapy Kitchen, and Koala Edibles took the cake.

Now two years later, things have changed for the better. The World Health Organization officially announced that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency. The cannabis industry has continued to thrive, and Oregon is a hotbed for cannabis growth and innovation (not to mention a home to psilocybin too!) This time around, our High Times Cannabis Cup Oregon: People’s Choice Edition 2023 has been expanded to include categories such as infused pre-rolls, solvent and non-solvent concentrates, and sublinguals, capsules, tinctures and topicals as well:

Entry Categories:

  1. Indica Flower (3 entries max per company)
  2. Sativa Flower (3 entries max per company)  
  3. Hybrid Flower (3 entries max per company)
  4. Pre-Rolls (2 entries max per company)
  5. Infused Pre-Rolls (1 entry max per company)
  6. Solvent Concentrates (2 entries max per company)
  7. Non-Solvent Concentrates (2 entries max per company)
  8. Vape Pens & Cartridges (2 entries max per company) (category may split)
  9. Edibles: Gummies & Fruit Chews (3 entries max per company)
  10. Edibles: Chocolates & Non-Gummies (3 entries max per company)
  11. Sublinguals, Capsules, Tinctures + Topicals (3 entries max per company)

This summer between July 17-19, products will be submitted for intake at Shadowbox, our intake partner, located in Portland. Our team will carefully curate the judge kits, which will become available for purchase on July 29. From there, Oregonians will have the opportunity to pick up a kit to judge products for nearly two months, with a deadline set for September 24. Finally, we invite everyone to tune into our digital awards show to be held later this year on October 9.

If you’re an interested competitor, we’ve got plenty of options to help get your products into the hands of the people! Pricing depends on the number of products being submitted, with one entry set at $250 (non-refundable), two entries at $100 each (non-refundable), and three entries or more at $100 each (deposit per entry held, refunded when all entries are successfully submitted). There are also a limited number of sponsorships available, and entry fees are waived for those who choose to sponsor the event. Please keep the following in mind for entries:

Entry Requirements:

  • Flower: (228) 1-gram samples. We will not accept any 3.5-gram entries.
  • Pre-Rolls & Infused Pre-Rolls: (228) samples: Pre-Rolls will be capped at 2g flower-only each; Infused Pre-Rolls are capped at 1g total net weight each as the combination of flower and concentrates is then only considered a full weight of concentrates. 
  • Concentrates & Vape Pens: (228) .5-gram samples. We will not accept any 1-gram entries. Batteries required for carts.
  • Edibles: (100) samples with 100mg THC max.
  • Sublinguals, Capsules, Tinctures + Topicals: (60) samples with 500mg THC max.

Each of our People’s Choice Cups showcase such a unique selection of products available to consumers in each state, from Massachusetts and Michigan to New Mexico and Southern California. We can’t wait to see what Oregon has in store for everyone.

A special thank you to our Official Intake Partner, Shadowbox!

Exclusive dispensaries coming soon!

The post Presenting the High Times Cannabis Cup Oregon: People’s Choice Edition 2023 appeared first on High Times.

Oregon Awards License for First Psilocybin Service Center

May 9, 2023 Published by

Regulators in Oregon last week announced the recipient of the state’s first license for a psilocybin service center, made possible by a voter approved measure passed nearly three years ago.

The Oregon Psilocybin Services, an arm of the Oregon Health Authority, said on Friday that it had issued a license to EPIC Healing Eugene.

“We want to congratulate Cathy Jonas of EPIC Healing Eugene on being the first licensed service center in the state,” said Oregon Psilocybin Services (OPS) Section Manager Angie Allbee. “This is such a historic moment as psilocybin services will soon become available in Oregon, and we appreciate the strong commitment to client safety and access as service center doors prepare to open.”

In a statement of her own, Jonas said that the business is “excited to be the first service center licensed in Oregon and to be able to open our doors for the many clients who will benefit from our transformational psychedelic-assisted therapy in a safe and nurturing space,” as quoted by local news station KGW.

Fifty-percent of Oregon voters approved Measure 109 in 2020, which made the state in the country the first to legalize psilocybin, while 44% of voters were opposed to the proposal.

In Friday’s announcement, the Oregon Health Authority explained exactly how the new program will work, and how individuals may procure such treatment:

“Under the statewide model, clients 21 years of age or older may access psilocybin services. While they won’t need prescriptions or referrals from healthcare providers, clients must first complete a preparation session with a licensed facilitator. If they meet the criteria to move forward, they may participate in an administration session at a licensed service center, where they may consume psilocybin products in the presence of a trained and licensed facilitator. Afterwards, clients may choose to join optional integration sessions, which offer opportunities to be connected to community resources and peer support networks for additional support. Once licensed, service centers can employ and/or contract with licensed facilitators who are trained in providing preparation, administration, and integration sessions to clients. Service centers will sell psilocybin products that were produced by licensed manufacturers and tested by licensed laboratories. To date, OPS has issued three manufacturer licenses, one laboratory license, five facilitator licenses, and 84 worker permits. OPS expects to issue more licenses and worker permits in the coming months.”

Late last year, the Oregon Health Authority approved the final slate of rules and regulations for the psilocybin service centers, which included an option for microdosing and other limits on duration of sessions. 

“[Oregon Psilocybin Services] received over 200 written comments and six hours of comments shared in the public hearings during the November 2022 public comment period,” wrote Andre Ours, administrator of the Center for Health Protection, 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.”

In April, the Oregon Health Authority issued licenses for the state’s first laboratory for testing psilocybin products to Rose City Laboratories, LLC.

“We want to congratulate Rose City Laboratories, LLC on being the first licensed laboratory for testing psilocybin products from licensed manufacturers,” Allbee said at the time. “Laboratory testing ensures the safety of psilocybin products, and accurate labeling of psilocybin potency allows clients to participate in administration sessions with products that meet their needs.”

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A Brave New World

April 29, 2023 Published by

When Oregon voters passed Proposition 109 in 2020, they cleared a path for greater access to the therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms and products that contain their active compounds. The ballot measure, which was approved with more than 55% of the vote, authorized the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to create a program to permit licensed service providers to produce and administer psilocybin-producing mushroom products to adults 21 years of age or older.

A model for progressive drug policy reform, Prop. 109 also laid the groundwork for a new industry in Oregon. The OHA’s Psilocybin Services Section is charged with drafting rules to license and regulate the manufacturing, transportation, delivery, sale, and purchase of psilocybin products as well as the provision of psilocybin services, with a mandate to have the program up and running in 2023. The agency is already accepting applications for psilocybin business licenses and savvy entrepreneurs are launching new enterprises to service a rising industry.

A New Business is Born

George Sellhorn, founder and principal scientist at Flourish Labs in Portland, is one of the business owners preparing for the launch of legal psilocybin in Oregon. He has had a personal relationship with psychedelics, including psilocybin mushrooms, since he was a teenager and acknowledges that psychedelics have had a “huge impact” on his life. He is also an avid cannabis enthusiast and, with tips and encouragement from High Times, has been growing his own plants since 1993. His interest in and passion for cannabis inspired his academic pursuits, with Sellhorn earning a Ph.D. in plant biochemistry from the University of Washington in 2006.

At that time, the legal cannabis industry in the U.S. was in its infancy, and positions in professional fields were few and far between. Sellhorn turned to biotechnology to begin his career, with stints working on cancer therapeutics and an HIV vaccine. Before long, however, friends with businesses in the emerging industry encouraged him to open a cannabis testing lab. Intent on seeing where his chosen path would take, he decided against going into business for himself, although he did dabble in the industry a bit and helped a couple of friends get labs set up. It seemed right for Sellhorn at the time, but it didn’t take long for him to wish he had decided differently.

“A few years later, I kind of was kicking myself saying, ‘I probably should have started a lab, and I’d probably be a lot happier than I am right now,’” he tells me in a telephone interview.

After the passage of Prop. 109, things came full circle. Once again, friends in a soon-to-be legal industry encouraged him to open a lab. The ballot measure includes provisions directing the OHA’s regulations for testing psilocybin products for contamination. Additionally, therapists would want to know the dosage of active compounds they were administering, leading to a need for potency data throughout the supply chain.

Sellhorn remembers thinking, “I’ve been down this road before,” and decided he wouldn’t leave himself open to later regrets this time around. He began ordering the lab equipment and supplies he would need to launch the operation in September 2021, and by the beginning of 2022, Flourish Labs was ready to start taking in samples and running tests.

Sellhorn says that testing mushrooms is quite similar to lab analysis of cannabis, but with one key difference. Like many cannabis labs, Sellhorn uses high-performance liquid chromatography incorporated with ultra-violet spectroscopy (HPLC-UV) to separate the molecules of a given sample and determine its makeup. However, unlike cannabinoids, which are fat-soluble (hydrophobic), the alkaloids in mushrooms are water-soluble (hydrophilic), necessitating a change in the approach to make it work. “So, same methods as cannabis, but just the opposite chemistry,” Sellhorn summarizes.

Lab Testing for Psilocybin, and More

Much of the time Sellhorn spends in testing involves determining the amount of psychoactive alkaloids, or potency, a particular sample contains. More than 50 species of mushrooms produce psilocybin, which is expressed at different levels determined by factors including genetics and cultivation practices.

“The most potent mushroom that I’ve seen from different people is an Albino Penis Envy or an APE,” says Sellhorn. “Eve tested anywhere from 0.1% alkaloids, up to 2.3% was the highest one that I’ve tested so far. So, there’s a pretty big range. The average, I’d say, is about 0.5% to 0.7% alkaloids [by dry weight].”

Initially, Sellhorn’s business plan primarily involved analyzing mushrooms that contain psilocybin and related alkaloids, including psilocin, psilocybin, norpsilocin, baeocystin, and norbaeocystin. Since opening Flourish Labs, he has also developed testing protocols for other products made with psilocybin mushrooms that are likely to be part of Oregon’s upcoming regulated market.

“I can also do fruiting bodies and gummies, chocolates, and extracts, whether it be liquid extract or dry extract” he explains. “So, I have a protocol for all of the possible products that could be made, that I’m aware of, as of now.”

High Times Magazine, February 2023

Dosage is Key

Sellhorn notes that the renewed interest in the reported health and wellness benefits of psilocybin has fostered a new culture of microdosing, which Sellhorn has been practicing for more than four years. To microdose, only a tiny fraction of a psychedelic dose of psilocybin is taken, perhaps 0.1 to 0.2 milligrams, Sellhorn suggests. With mushrooms of average potency (rounded up to 1% total alkaloids), that translates to about a tenth to two-tenths of a gram of mushroom biomass. “That’s like a really nice microdose, and you can adjust it based on body weight,” he says. “A microdose should be enough to lift your mood but not feel any of the psychedelic effects like you’re about to trip.”

At the other end of the spectrum is macrodosing, which involves taking enough psilocybin to produce a strong psychedelic effect, which can either be a heck of a fun trip or a space for life-changing spiritual or psychological breakthroughs, depending on the intention with which the drug is taken. To macrodose, Sellhorn says a dosage of 30 milligrams to 50 milligrams of psilocybin (approximately 5 grams of mushroom biomass) should be about right for an intense trip. And within the extremes of micro and macrodosing, “there’s doses in between there for whatever you’re looking for.”

In addition to potency, Sellhorn notes that the form of psilocybin taken can also influence the effects of the drug. While eating dried mushrooms is the classic method of consumption, extracted psilocybin and products made from it can modify the drug’s effects.

“It’s abundantly clear to me now that the mushroom biomass itself acts like a time-release capsule. So, if you take a mushroom that has, say, five milligrams of psilocybin in it, and you eat that, you’ll get a certain effect,” he explains. “And it’ll take a certain amount of time to hit you. But if you take five milligrams in a gummy or a chocolate, it hits you way faster, it’s much more intense, and it gets over more quickly.”

Sellhorn’s work in the lab has given him an opportunity to increase his knowledge about other psilocybin best practices, as well. He notes that proper storage is very effective at preserving the potency of psilocybin mushrooms. When a client was looking for data on potency degradation, an in-house study determined that mushrooms stored in a vacuum-sealed bag and kept in dark conditions at 60° Fahrenheit retained 98% of their potency after four months.

An Expanding Scientific Field

Although he sees a strong market for analyzing psilocybin-containing mushrooms coming to Oregon, Sellhorn realized that demand for lab testing may be limited until the industry is more established and generating revenue. Although the state’s regulations will likely eventually include requirements for testing for microbial contamination or the presence of heavy metals in addition to potency, such testing is not yet in high demand. So, to supplement his business plan, Flourish Labs has also begun lab testing of so-called functional mushrooms including cordyceps, reishi, and amanita muscaria (famous in folklore and pop culture) for compounds that could have health and wellness benefits. Additional species to be tested by the lab in the coming months include lion’s mane, chaga, maitake, tremella, and turkey tail.

When regulated production and administration of psilocybin for therapeutic purposes begins in Oregon later this year, it will launch a new industry in the state and become a milestone in the continued evolution of drug policy reform. Leading the way will be a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs, including Sellhorn and Flourish Labs.

This article was originally published in the February 2023 issue of High Times Magazine.

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