Wednesday, October 21, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
25
Drug measures on Oregon ballot
By Andrew Selsky
Associated Press
SALEM (AP) 4 War vet-
erans with PTSD, terminally
ill patients and others suffer-
ing from anxiety are backing
a ballot measure that would
legalize controlled, thera-
peutic use in Oregon of psi-
locybin mushrooms, which
they say has helped them
immeasurably.
<After chemo failed, I went
to a pretty dark place,= said
Mara McGraw, a Portland
woman who has terminal can-
cer. <I was feeling hopeless
about treatment and about the
future.=
Then she tried the psy-
chedelic mushroom, more
commonly known as <magic
mushrooms,< with a trained
facilitator standing by.
<It was a very safe and
nurturing experience for me.
I immediately felt a release
from the fear,= McGraw told
a video news conference.
On the national level, a
clinical trial of psilocybin is
underway to test its potential
antidepressant properties, the
U.S. government9s National
Library of Medicine says.
Backers of Measure 109 say
the state, which was the first
in the nation to decriminal-
ize marijuana, should lead the
way in legalizing therapeutic,
regulated use of psilocybin,
often referred to as magic
mushrooms.
A second Oregon ballot
question, Measure 110, would
decriminalize possession
of small amounts of heroin,
cocaine, LSD, oxycodone and
some other drugs. Its backers
say drug addiction is a health
issue and should not cause
people to be imprisoned and
saddled with criminal records.
If Oregon voters approve
Measure 110, the state would
be the first to decriminalize
those drugs.
The psilocybin initiative,
however, is about overcoming
depression, supporters say.
<An estimated 1 in every
5 adults in Oregon is coping
with a mental health condi-
tion,< 20 doctors and other
health care workers wrote
in the voters pamphlet. <We
support Measure 109 because
it provides a new treatment
for many that might break
through where others fall
short.=
It would require the
Oregon Health Authority
to allow licensed, regulated
production and possession
of psilocybin exclusively for
administration by licensed
facilitators to clients. There
would be a two-year develop-
ment period for the program.
The only argument in
opposition in the pamphlet
came from the Oregon
Psychiatric Physicians
Association and the American
Psychiatric Association.
<We believe that science
does not yet indicate that
psilocybin is a safe medical
treatment for mental health
conditions,= the groups said.
But several military veter-
ans believe psilocybin therapy
is a life-saver, especially when
suicide among veterans is so
high. Some 20 veterans die by
suicide each day in the U.S.,
about 1.5 times higher than
those who have not served in
the military.
Chad Kuske said he devel-
oped post-traumatic stress
disorder after serving as a
Navy SEAL for 18 years with
12 combat deployments,
<I was really suffering
from stress, anxiety, depres-
sion. I was angry all the
time,= Kuske said. Then a for-
mer member of his team vis-
ited Kuske in Portland on his
way to a psilocybin therapy
session. Through his friend,
Kuske also signed up for one.
<I9m very fortunate that
that I was able to find this
therapy, administered by peo-
ple who care and who really
had my best interests in mind
and do it in the proper set-
ting,< Kuske told reporters in
a video call.
<There9s no way that the
words that I can use could
really explain it,= Kuske said.
<It9s not an overestimate by
any means to say that it saved
my life, because the path that
I was taking would have even-
tually just led me to continued
suffering, jail or or death. I
don9t know that I would have
ever really broken the cycle of
Election 2020 is underway...
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
The Sisters City Hall ballot drop box is available until election
day.
returning to alcohol and drugs
without this.=
In a psilocybin session
that lasts for hours, sub-
jects often have eyeshades
and headphones on, to help
them look inward, said Chris
Stauffer, physician scientist at
the Portland Veterans Affairs
Medical Center who conducts
clinical trials of psychedelic-
assisted therapy. He9s also an
assistant professor of psychi-
atry at the Oregon Health &
Science University.
For music, Stauffer tends
to borrow from a <Psilocybin
Research: Johns Hopkins=
playlist on Spotify, featur-
ing classical composers such
as Vivaldi and Brahms and
calming New Age and flute
music. The playlist ends on
an upbeat note, with <What
a Wonderful World,= sung by
Louis Armstrong.
<We try to make space for
the entire range of emotional
experience, knowing that
whatever comes up is coming
up for healing,= Stauffer said
in an interview. <Even if it9s
something that seems scary or
overwhelming, we encourage
them to move into it and try to
move through it and not avoid
it.=
The other drug-related
ballot measure, the Drug
Addiction Treatment and
Recovery Act, recently
received a $500,000 donation
from Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg and his wife Dr.
Priscilla Chan.
<Its significance is monu-
mental: If the measure passes,
Oregon will shift to a health-
based approach to drugs
and addiction,< the Chan
Zuckerberg Initiative website
says. <Instead of arrests and
criminal convictions, people
possessing small amounts of
drugs will get civil infractions
that can be waived if they get
assessed for drug treatment
needs.=
All marijuana tax revenue
above $11.25 million quar-
terly would fund addiction
recovery centers, along with
legislative appropriations and
any savings from reductions
in arrests and incarceration
resulting from the measure.
Among those in sup-
port are the Oregon Nurses
Association and the Oregon
chapter of the American
College of Physicians.
About two dozen district
attorneys in Oregon are urg-
ing a no vote.
<This measure recklessly
decriminalizes possession
of the most dangerous types
of drugs, including metham-
phetamine, cocaine, heroin
and ecstasy,= they wrote
in the voters9 pamphlet.
<Decriminalization will lead
to an increase in acceptability
of dangerous drugs.=