Psilocybin will be on the ballot in Redmond again this fall, for the third time in five years.
In November, voters will decide to continue a temporary ban on businesses that facilitate supervised magic mushroom trips to treat an array of mental health problems. Redmond voters and dozens of other jurisdictions have enacted bans and moratoriums since Oregon voters made it the first state in the country to legalize psilocybin service centers.
With a 6-1 vote, the Redmond City Council approved sending the issue to voters on Aug. 11. The Council had the option to let the current two-year ban sunset at the end of 2026, which would have allowed licensed psilocybin centers to apply to operate in the City.
“It’s kind of a contentious thing in Redmond,” Redmond City Councilor Cat Zwicker, who voted to refer the ban to voters, told the Source. “I think it’s best on something like that to hear the will of the people.”
In 2022, 53% of Redmond voters approved a ban on psilocybin, and 55% of voters chose to extend the ban in 2024. Redmond was one of dozens of Oregon cities to approve bans in 2024. Voters chose to allow psilocybin service centers in unincorporated Deschutes County in 2022 while La Pine voters approved an indefinite ban. Bend hosts three psilocybin service centers — the only ones east of the Cascade Mountains.
A study published Aug. 19 by researchers from Oregon Health Sciences University showed promising results for psilocybin therapy in treating anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other mental health issues. Nearly two-thirds of patients responding to a survey said the experience was among the most meaningful of their lives, with 90% saying they benefited. A few reported their experience as harmful, including four who had adverse behavioral effects after using psilocybin for the first time. No one in the study reported any serious physical health issues.
Colorado and New Mexico have also adopted psilocybin therapy programs.
Amanda Gow, co-founder of Bendable Therapy, which provides supervised psilocybin trips, said there have been very few public concerns with having the practice in Bend.
“The safety has been incredibly high,” Gow said. “It’s definitely more dangerous to have a bar in your community than it is to have a psilocybin service center.”
Zwicker said she sees potential benefits of psilocybin therapy for medical use but has concerns about equal access and the limited market around psilocybin.
When the state first started licensing the centers, Zwicker said, “They had a long way to go in regulating this for fair, equitable use. It was more recreational at the time.”
She added, “I don’t want it to be something that people come here to visit to do for fun.”
More than 20,000 people have accessed psilocybin therapy in Oregon, according to a dashboard from the Oregon Health Authority. It’s available to anyone 21 and older. A recent study from Johns Hopkins University found many people who participated in psilocybin therapy had high-income backgrounds and came from outside of Oregon.
Gow said allowing psilocybin centers in other cities in Central Oregon where commercial space is cheaper might pass on cost savings for people seeking therapy. The service center’s website says the individual psilocybin therapy program costs $3,800.
Redmond City Councilor John Nielsen was the only councilor to oppose sending the temporary ban to voters again. He argued during a July meeting that it made sense to be cautious about psilocybin when the state first started licensing service centers. Now, it’s something the City should consider more seriously, he said.
“I continue to hear from veterans and folks who struggle with PTSD that this is a tool that if properly used under medical supervision, which these service centers do, that it is beneficial and helpful to them,” Nielsen said. “I don’t think it is in the city’s best interest to simply rubber stamp this moving forward for yet another two-year ban without having some kind of discussion or bringing up some kind of experts pro and con on it.”
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