EPIC Healing Eugene has become one of Oregon’s first and therefore America’s first officially licenced psilocybin service centres.
The new licence allows EPIC Healing Eugene to offer psychedelic therapy sessions using psilocybin to members of the public over the age of 21.
In 2020, Oregon state voted to pass Measure 109 with almost 56% in favour of the vote. The Oregon Psilocybin Services Act which legalised the drug.
Psilocybin is the psychoactive element of magic mushrooms.
The new law allowed for psychedelic assisted therapy via a trained facilitator. EPIC Healing Eugene is led by Cathy Rosewell Jonas. She has 35 years of experience as a clinical social worker.
Psilocybin became legal on January 1st 2023, but this did not lead to immediate sales of the drug.
Many hurdles were still yet to be overcome. These included giving licences to laboratories that produce psilocybin and the training of facilitators. Licences are also required for the service centres with EPIC Healing Eugene becoming the first to receive these.
Oregon state announced in March the first licences for psilocybin laboratories.
The state government and 22 training schools are writing the rule book on the best strategy for administering psilocybin.
Facilitators of the drug have to be over the age of 21, have a high school education, must graduate from a training school and take a licencing exam.
Costs for training for six months is $8,000.
Since the announcement of legalisation, one of the major questions remains the cost that will be passed onto the consumer for the service.
Magic mushrooms are commonly found worldwide (apart from Antarctica) and recent news from Australia, who legalised MDMA and psilocybin for therapeutic purposes, have been projected to have staggering costs.
Costs from EPIC Healing Eugene have also shown to be high with much of the cost seemingly to pay for the therapeutic aspect of the treatment.
EPIC Healing Eugene hopes to serve 30 people each month and will offer services on an individual and group basis.
They hope to offer services to larger groups in the future in the hope of reducing costs and increasing accessibility to people on lower income.
EPIC Healing Eugene has documented their journey to becoming the first licenced centre in Oregon on their YouTube channel.
