OREGON
A6 — THE OBSERVER
Rural
Oregon
counties
striking
first
Umatilla is one of the
latest counties to put
a psilocybin service
center ban on the
November ballot
By ANTONIO SIERRA
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — The next
drug debate is coming to
an Eastern Oregon ballot in
November.
On Tuesday, July 5, the
Umatilla County Board
of Commissioners unani-
mously voted to put a ban on
psilocybin manufacturing
and service centers on the
Nov. 8 ballot. Psilocybin is
the active ingredient in hal-
lucinogenic mushrooms, and
research has indicated it may
be a useful drug in treating
a variety of conditions,
including post-traumatic
stress disorder.
Oregon voters legalized
supervised therapeutic use
of psilocybin in 2020, but
the commissioners reasoned
that since 62% of Uma-
tilla County voters rejected
the measure, they deserve
another chance to weigh in.
“Because our citizens
spoke so loudly about (how)
we don’t want it, we want
them to have the opportunity
to opt out again,” Umatilla
County Commissioner John
Shafer said.
Umatilla County joins
several other counties in
asking their voters to con-
sider banning the psyche-
delic drug from being sold in
the county’s unincorporated
areas before a state-man-
aged system takes effect in
January.
In Linn County, a com-
missioner said he feared
access to psilocybin might
lead youth to “doing things
that may cost them their life”
as the board sent the issue to
the ballot. Jackson County
commissioners approved a
psilocybin referendum even
as a company makes plans
to turn a resort in Ashland
into a psilocybin therapeutic
retreat.
Shafer anticipates more
local ballot measures in the
future.
“I think you’re gonna see
a lot more counties take the
same action we took,” he
said. “Our neighbors to the
west, Morrow County, did it
before we did. I think you’re
going to see a domino effect
come on, especially on the
eastern side of the state.”
The trend is reminis-
cent of 2016, when the state
gave local governments
the ability to opt out of
legal cannabis sales. Many
Eastern Oregon cities and
counties justified outright
bans by citing the regional
split in support of 2014’s
Measure 91, which legalized
the creation of a recreational
market.
But some communi-
ties in the region saw a
shift in opinion after can-
nabis became legal. Two
years after Umatilla County
voters soundly rejected Mea-
sure 91, Pendleton residents
voted to allow sales in 2016
as recreational cannabis was
revealed to be a tax boon for
local governments.
Pendleton wasn’t alone.
Other Eastern Oregon cities
like Ontario, Sumpter and
Huntington also opened
their doors to cannabis sales.
Some Eastern Oregon com-
munities have benefited by
selling to residents of Idaho,
where cannabis — and psilo-
cybin — remain fully illegal
for recreational or medic-
inal use.
Although some com-
munities in the region have
embraced cannabis sales,
Shafer said the lack of state
regulation over illegal grows
is another reason Umatilla
County residents could be
concerned about psilocybin.
TuESday, July 12, 2022
Oregon National Guard bars unvaccinated soldiers from drills
State and nation’s
citizen-soldiers
must secure
medical or religious
exemptions or
get vaccinated
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Oregon
National Guard is barring
members who have not fol-
lowed orders to be vacci-
nated against COVID-19
from taking part in military
duties, officials confirmed
Thursday, July 7.
The action could lead
to termination or delays
in pay and some benefits,
according to a U.S. Depart-
ment of Defense announce-
ment. Continued refusal
could lead to separation
from the military altogether.
“This is a lawful order
and is in line with other
required vaccinations for
readiness of the force,” said
Lt. Col. Stephen Bomar,
spokesperson for the
Oregon National Guard.
“As with other manda-
tory vaccinations, legit-
imate medical and reli-
gious exemptions will be
acknowledged with respect,
EO Media Group, File
The Oregon National Guard is barring members who have not
followed orders to be vaccinated against COVID-19 from taking
part in military duties, officials confirmed Thursday, July 7, 2022.
compassion and dignity.”
The Department of
Defense issued an order in
August 2021 that all mil-
itary personnel be vac-
cinated against COVID-
19. The Army said the
announcement this week
would affect about 62,000
service members out of a
total force of more than 1
million soldiers.
About 97% of the 8,000
members of the Oregon
National Guard have com-
plied with the order by get-
ting vaccinated, starting
the vaccination process, or
going through the admin-
istrative approvals to get
exemptions or accommoda-
tions, Bomar said.
The Oregon National
Guard declined to provide
an exact number of mem-
bers not in compliance or
seeking waivers, citing pri-
vacy and appeals processes.
If 97% of the Oregon
National Guard is in com-
pliance, that would leave
3%, or about 240 members.
Bomar said decisions on
exemptions are scheduled to
be completed by October 1.
“No adverse actions will
take place against Guard
members with pending
or approved exemption
requests,” Bomar said.
Options to appeal
If a service member’s
permanent medical exemp-
tion or religious accommo-
dation request is denied,
they have the right to appeal
that decision within 30 days.
If the appeal is unsuc-
cessful, the service
member has the option of
being vaccinated or being
considered to have refused
the order to be vaccinated.
“The specific number of
days from receiving a final
denial to being considered
to have refused the vaccine
is scheduled to come out in
a future order,” Bomar said.
Summer is the time
when many National
Guard units go through
their mandatory two-week
training, often working
with active-duty per-
sonnel. Ahead of those
assignments, the U.S.
Army said it would enforce
vaccination deadlines
that had been previously
announced.
“Members of the
Army National Guard and
U.S. Army Reserve who
have refused the lawful
Department of Defense
COVID-19 vaccination
order without an approved
or pending exemption may
not participate in federally
funded drills and training
and will not receive pay
or retirement credit,”
according to the Army’s
July 7 statement.
The order has the big-
gest impact on the Army,
which accounts for just
under half of all uniformed
personnel and 75% of all
National Guard members.
The overwhelming
majority of service mem-
bers have complied with
the order. The Army has
just over 1 million soldiers
in service, with 480,000
on active duty. There are
336,000 National Guard
members and 189,500 U.S.
Army reservists.
“Maintaining readiness
continues to be among the
U.S. Army’s highest priori-
ties.” said a statement from
the U.S. Army command
at the Pentagon near Wash-
ington, D.C. “We are fully
committed to ensuring
all soldiers are vaccinated
against COVID-19.”
The Pentagon said
40,000 National Guard
members and 22,000
reservists were not yet in
compliance with the order.
Since the pandemic
spread to the United States
in early 2020, the U.S.
Defense Department has
worried about the impact
of the virus on military
readiness around the globe.
Non-uniformed personnel
were moved off-base at
many installations. Troops
went through quarantine
periods before and after
deployments overseas.
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