An Open Letter to the Good People of Oregon

TLDR: To make up for a budget shortfall, the OHA is planning to double facilitator licensure fees (and psilocybin center fees) which will effectively make this medicine exclusively available to wealthy patrons and organizations while decimating the quality of care that psychedelic therapy requires.

Dear Oregon,

You ever hear the one about the 84-year old artist who after trying psychedelics for the first time was able to liberate himself from an abusive guardian (70 years removed) and earn the privilege of knowing himself for the first time in his life? Or the story about the young musician who after cycling through every available SSRI turned to psilocybin therapy and gleaned enough insight and self-love to lift the veil of treatment-resistant depression that had dogged him for years? Or the middle-aged art teacher, who after years of debilitating pain and depression—which had her on disability—turned to magic mushrooms and 6 months years later, she’s back in the classroom and paddleboarding on the weekends? Yeah, these are real case studies from three of my clients over the last two years, and if the Oregon Health Authority gets their way, these stories of healing, redemption and liberation will come to a screeching halt.

To address a budget shortfall, the OHA is proposing to double facilitator fees to $4,000 a year (therapists in Oregon pay about $150 a year). Coupled with a proposed $10,000 fee increase for service centers, these short-sighted financial measures will price out the middle-class and firmly establish psilocybin therapy in Oregon as a plaything for CEOs and the ultra-rich. Some of my critics might call BS and point out that the “underground” scene is vibrant and often cheaper or that retreats in Mexico are numerous and offer a more authentic medicine ceremony. I’ll concede both of those points, but that concession doesn’t invalidate my hypothesis.

My clients sought out this therapy primarily because it unfolds within a safe, legal and regulated container. These are people who—like it or not—have been conditioned to distrust plant medicine, and a structured, legal environment is basically their only option. These are people that don’t have random wads of money to spend on productivity hacks, but turned to psilocybin therapy as a kind of a last resort. These are people who can’t afford the plane tickets and luxe accommodations of the retreat model. These are people who trip on a Friday and have to go back to work on a Monday. 

Doubling the fees make it virtually impossible for a facilitator like me to run a business. I’m barely in the black and yeah I could raise my prices, but I suspect my clientele couldn’t make that leap with me. Even my wealthier clients have lamented the price tag of $1600 + mushrooms for a session that includes the room rental and about 25 hours of work—two preparation sessions, the journey and two integration sessions. Additionally, service centers (the OHA-approved facilities where people actually trip) that actually offer equity accommodation and collective models will undoubtedly feel the crunch of this 100% increase in fees.

Fortunately for the movement in general, not all facilitators and centers will be affected.The drive-thru centers that invest the bare minimum into preparation and integration will just increase volume. The schmancy centers who cater to the ultra-wealthy won’t bat an eye at increasing prices for folks who won’t bat an eye at paying more. What’s another 2K when you’re already paying 5K?

So, Oregon what are we going to about it? Like any good choose your own adventure book, we’ve got 2 paths here before us. We can be uncreative, double the fees and reserve psilocybin therapy for the 1% while the rest of us lumber forward with afflictions that will undoubtedly multiply and cause more problems in the future? Or we can actually put on our big-human boots and fund this program properly. Can we agree that the data from the last decade of clinical trials proves that psilocybin therapy is at least as effective as talk therapy and SSRIs? Why, then isn’t it covered by Medicaid? Are we so cowardly that we’d rather lean on a timeworn stigma than make this program a true revolutionary thing?

We were the first in the country to do this. It’s a big f*cking deal. Were we always planning just to dangle our toes in the water? Where’s the moxie? The verve? Where them bureaucratic cannonballers?

Nah, you’re right. Let’s not do anything. Let’s watch tech-bros live-stream their spiritual journeys on LinkedIn while psychedelic gurus flash their pretty teeth in the background. Yeah, who gives a shit about the mechanic who can’t shake off his anxiety or the veteran who’s fighting like hell to break free from generations of alcoholism?

We won’t let have mushrooms, but we'll let ‘em eat cake.