Oregon Is in Danger of Pricing Psilocybin Back Underground

When Oregon voters approved Measure 109 in 2020, they launched one of the most ambitious public health experiments in recent history. Rather than continuing decades of prohibition, Oregon created a regulated system in which adults could legally access psilocybin in licensed service centers under the supervision of trained facilitators.

The program was never intended to be perfect. It was intended to answer an important question: Can we create a safe, accountable, evidence-informed alternative to the underground psychedelic market?

As someone who has dedicated my professional life to expanding safe, ethical access to psychedelic services, I have watched Oregon's progress with tremendous hope. The program has generated invaluable experience in facilitator training, participant safety, regulatory oversight, informed consent, emergency response, and quality assurance. Other states like Colorado have learned from Oregon's successes as well as its growing pains.

That is why I was deeply disappointed to learn that the Oregon Health Authority is proposing dramatic increases in licensing fees for psilocybin businesses. Under the proposal, annual licensing fees for service centers and manufacturers would double from $10,000 to $20,000, while facilitator licensing fees would also increase dramatically from $2,000 to $4,000. These changes come as many licensed businesses are already struggling to remain financially viable, and numerous service centers have closed since the program launched. State officials have indicated the increases are necessary because the program is required to be self-supporting and is facing budget shortfalls..

When legal providers disappear, demand does not disappear with them. People who seek healing, personal growth, or relief from depression, trauma, addiction, or end-of-life distress will continue looking for psilocybin experiences. The difference is that many of those experiences may occur outside the regulated system. That would be a profound loss.

The value of a regulated program extends far beyond legal access to psilocybin itself. Regulation creates safeguards that are difficult or impossible to guarantee in underground settings.

Licensed facilitators receive extensive education in ethics, screening, preparation, trauma-informed care, emergency response, and integration. Service centers must meet operational standards designed to protect participants. Products are cultivated, manufactured, and tested under regulatory oversight, providing greater confidence about identity, purity, and dosage. Participants receive informed consent, appropriate preparation, supervised administration, and post-session integration support. None of these protections are guaranteed when services move underground.

When legitimate providers are priced out of the market, participants are left with fewer opportunities to access carefully regulated services. Instead, they may rely on unlicensed practitioners, uncertain product quality, inconsistent dosing, or environments that lack the safety procedures developed through years of professional experience. That outcome would be unfortunate not only for participants, but also for policymakers and researchers.

Oregon has become the world's first real-world laboratory for regulated adult psilocybin services. Every licensed facilitator, every service center, and every participant contributes to our collective understanding of how these services can be delivered safely and responsibly. If the regulated system contracts dramatically, we lose opportunities to improve standards, collect meaningful data, refine best practices, and build public confidence.

The challenge for Oregon and other states considering regulated psychedelic services is finding the balance between protecting the public and creating barriers so burdensome that the legal system becomes unsustainable.

I sincerely hope Oregon's policymakers reconsider the magnitude of these proposed fee increases. The state has invested years in building a thoughtful regulatory framework that many of us have looked to as a model. It would be deeply unfortunate if financial pressures unintentionally undermined that progress and pushed participants back toward the very unregulated market the program was designed to replace.

For the sake of participants, facilitators, and the future of psychedelic care, I hope Oregon chooses a path that preserves both safety and access