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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 3, 2019)
A3 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 2019 Psychedelic mushroom supporters push for legalization — with caveats Issue could go on the 2020 ballot By KRISTIAN FODEN-VENCIL Oregon Public Broadcasting The active ingredient of psychedelic mushrooms, psilocybin, has been listed as a Schedule I drug since the 1970s. That means the federal government thinks it has no medical applica- tion whatsoever — and high potential for abuse. But Oregon’s attorney general has approved lan- guage for a ballot measure which would make psilocy- bin legal if passed. But what would that look like? How would people get the drug? And how would the state ensure it is used safely? “Nobody’s going to be taking psilocybin home with them to administer to them- selves, which means that Kristian Foden-Vencil/Oregon Public Broadcasting Tom Eckert and his wife, Sheri, are the co-sponsors of the Psilocybin Service Initiative. They are in private practice together where they counsel couples and men who’ve been required to attend a domestic violence program. there will be none in pub- lic, no one driving,” said Tom Eckert, one of the lead- ers of a campaign to legalize psilocybin. Eckert and his wife, Sheri, are the co-sponsors of the Psilocybin Service Ini- tiative, a push to get legal- ization on the 2020 ballot. The fi rst thing they want vot- ers to know is that they’re not following the model of legalization used by canna- bis proponents. Tom Eckert, a therapist in Beaverton, said voters should realize what they’re legalizing is “psilocybin-as- sisted therapy,” rather than Washington Supreme Court to weigh whether Inslee’s carbon cap is illegal By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington Supreme Court will hear arguments in March on whether Gov. Jay Inslee’s Clean Air Rule was an illegal power grab by the executive branch. The court also may con- sider whether the regula- tion would backfi re and increase the global release of greenhouse gases. Inslee, unable to pass climate-change legislation, directed the state Depart- ment of Ecology to develop the rule to cut carbon emissions. Two food processors, a fertilizer maker and about four dozen other manufac- turers would be required to cut carbon emissions or buy credits created by someone else’s reductions. Petro- leum refi neries and natu- ral gas companies would have to buy the credits too because their products release carbon when used. the Department of Ecol- ogy estimates, broadly, the rule would cost businesses between $445 million and $6.7 billion over 20 years. A Thurston County judge ruled Washington’s Clean Air Act didn’t give the Department of Ecol- ogy authority to regulate distributers of fossil-fuel products and tossed out the entire rule. The Department of Ecol- ogy appealed directly to the Supreme Court, stating cli- mate change was too press- ing a matter to wait. Now the high court has put the case on its calen- dar, and the parties are fi l- ing briefs. The Department of Ecol- ogy defends the legality of the rule, and the environ- mental groups that have joined the lawsuit argue the court should broadly inter- pret the department’s author- ity because climate change is a signifi cant threat to every Washington resident. The rule will increase the cost of making farm goods and other prod- ucts. The business coali- tion, which includes the Northwest Food Proces- sors Association as well as the Washington State Farm Bureau, claim that Wash- ington companies will lose market share to out-of-state competitors. And the com- petitors are likely to be in places where manufactur- ers emit more greenhouse gases. wholesale access to the drug. “Many individuals want this service,” said Sheri Eckert, also a therapist. “But they want to know that they’re getting it from some- one they can trust.” “Psychedelics are uniquely powerful when it comes to creating lasting change in the human being,” Tom Eckert said. It’s a change many people swear by. Author Michael Pollan’s new book looks at the science of psy- chedelic drugs. As part of his research, he attended an underground psilocybin therapy session with a facili- tator and said he completely disconnected from his ego on the trip. “The most amazing thing happened; I just kind of found my identity, my sense of self completely turned into post-its — little slips of paper that were being blown-around by the wind,” Pollan recently told Ore- gon Public Broadcasting’s “Think Out Loud.” “But (I) had no desire to pile them back together again. I didn’t fi ght it.” Tom Eckert said he wants Oregonians to have similar experiences, which is why he’s seeking legalization for more than just treatment of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Under the proposal the Eckerts are pushing, peo- ple seeking psilocybin treat- ments will need to be 21 or older and have medi- cal clearance from a doctor. They would then be assigned a licensed facilitator. “The facilitator kind of orients you to the service, asks some questions, gets to know you and your desires and your intentions and issues a bit more,” Tom Eck- ert said. When both facilitator and client are happy, they sched- ule a session to take the drug. Tom Eckert says that would be at a licensed psi- locybin facility, possibly a hospital or a small neighbor- hood clinic. The client would drink a tea, eat mushrooms or take a synthetic version of the drug. “You take the compound, and you generally lay down with headphones on and eye shades, and you listen to music that is previously curated to enhance the expe- rience,” Tom Eckert said. “It’s just a very affi rming thing.” If the client responds poorly to the drug, the facili- tator would step in to ensure their safety. But Tom Eckert said he doesn’t expect many problems. “It’s not a stimulant. It doesn’t create a lot of activ- ity. You generally become immersed in the experi- ence,” he said. 2 Puget Sound orcas predicted to die by summer Associated Press SEATTLE — Two more Puget Sound orcas are ailing and probably will be dead by summer, according an expert on the critically endangered population of killer whales that live in the waters of the Pacifi c Northwest. Drone photography taken this past September showed the ailing population of orcas known as the southern resi- dents went into the winter thinner than they were when the whales arrived in the San Juan Islands last summer. They also are thinner than Puget Sound’s so-called northern resident popula- tion of killer whales, which have been steadily grow- ing in population for the past 40 years in their home waters primarily in north- ern British Columbia and southeast Alaska, where they have access to more fi sh and cleaner and quieter water. The northern residents gave birth to 10 new calves last year. The Seattle Times reported that Center for Whale Research founding director Ken Balcomb said photos taken of a southern resident orca known as J17 on New Year’s Eve showed the 42-year-old female has so-called peanut head — a misshapen head and neck caused by starvation. In addition, a 27-year-old male known as K25 is failing, also from lack of suffi cient food. He lost his mother, K13, in 2017 and is not successfully foraging on his own. Several southern resident whales were documented to be pregnant in September, but so far there has been no sign of babies. The southern residents have not had a suc- cessful pregnancy in three years. The southern resident population is at a 35-year low after three deaths in 2018. There are only 74 left. Losing J17 would be a blow to the southern resi- dents because she is a female still of reproducing age, said Deborah Giles, research scientist for University of Washington. Center for Con- servation Biology. 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