Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2022)
Page 4 December 07, 2022 Drug Sales Get Trippy Sign on Shroom House Shop Magic mushroom shop opens in Portland The country’s first over-the- counter magic mushroom shop is open in Portland. Tons of res- idents took the whimsical store. The Shroom House which is referred to as a wellness shop by the owner is located on West Burnside and is getting atten- tion around the country. With its arrival sparking fears that Port- land's record-murder rate and soaring violent crime problems will spike further. The Shroom House is selling psychedelic fungi with catchy names ranging from $70 to $95 per 7-gram bag- gie. Customers have to be at least 21, provide two forms of identi- fication, and fill out a question- naire that asks about depression and anxiety, among other things. Before purchasing from the Shroom shop customers must fill out paperwork to become a mem- ber of the “Shroom House Soci- ety.” The application states the businesses’ board “will consider your application at which time it will be rejected or accepted.” Oregon passed measure 109 in November 2020. The law forbids the drug from being sold at retail shops and says it must be taken on-premises at the state-approved centers under the guidance of a worker trained in a program approved by the Oregon Health Authority. However, Oregon will start accepting applications for permits to sell psilocybin prod- ucts from January 2, 2023. “Retail sales of psilocybin are not legal under Oregon law,” said Sam Chapman, executive director of the Healing Advocacy Fund, who advocated for Mea- sure 109, which legalized magic mushrooms in Oregon. “Noth- ing in Measure 109 or any other law allows the sale of psilocybin mushrooms today or in the fu- ture,” he stated. The store also sells non psy- chedelic products such as teas and “elixirs” made with a vita- min-rich mushroom with pur- ported brain benefits. The Oregon Health Authority doesn't have any licensed psilo- cybin dispensaries at this time, and OHA says it does not deal with enforcement or regulation and that would be up to the po- lice. Portland police say they are aware the store is open and sell- ing mushrooms but won't give details on the activity of the bu- reau's Narcotics and Organized Crime unit. 2022 Subsidized Housing Waiting List Opening Studio, 1, 2, 3, and 4- Bedroom Apartments Wednesday November 30 – Wednesday December 14 Home Forward is excited to announce that 33 communities with subsi- dized housing assistance will be opening the waiting lists for studio, one, two, three, and four-bedroom units from November 30 – December 14, 2022. Applicants must meet income and eligibility guidelines. Please vis- it www.homeforward.org for more information. Applications will be accepted online from any internet capable device at www.homeforward.org beginning November 30 at 9:00 am. If you do not have internet service, please call us at 503-419-8050 for assistance. Phone assistance will be available Monday through Friday 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM. Phone assistance will not be available on Saturday or Sunday Photo Courtesy of the OLCC website Mandatory Cannabis Recall Issused OLCC issues mandatory recall for marijuana extract products; investigation to determine cause The Oregon Liquor and Can- nabis Commission (OLCC) have issued a mandatory recall for sev- eral marijuana products due to the potential presence of pesticides. The possible marijuana product contamination is a result of fail- ure to follow OLCC and Oregon Health Authority (OHA) rules for tracking and isolating marijuana products where the presence of pesticides has been detected. This recall has been issued for 9,300 units that were still on the market and affects 13,600 units that were sold to consum- ers. The recall is being issued to ensure that licensees do not sell, and customers do not consume the effected products, because OLCC investigators cannot de- termine if the potential contam- ination is isolated or is wide- spread through the product lines. These products were manu- factured under the trade names Bobsled and Quantum Alche- my. A list of these products can be found on the OLCC website product recall page. The OLCC has notified cannabis retailers about the recall, advising that these products are under a man- datory recall with instructions on how the products must be destroyed or returned to a li- censed supplier for destruction. The state’s Cannabis Tracking System to detected potential- ly tainted products, contact the licensees that produced the im- pacted brands and locate all the questionable items distributed and sold through Oregon’s reg- ulated market. Inspectors will follow up with licensees in possession of the affected products to ensure they are removed from sale, isolated from other inventory, and then ultimately destroyed according to OLCC rules. Customers who have purchased this product can either return it to the licensed re- tailer they purchased it from or destroy the product. The OLCC has not identified any fault by the laboratory that conducted the pesticide analysis. The items identified as subject to the mandatory recall are related to batches that originally failed testing for pesticides. Under OHA rules, manufacturers must follow certain procedures to re- test any failed batches, and may only remediate the suspect prod- uct under certain circumstances. The manufacturers of the prod- ucts identified did not follow proper procedures in tracking, retesting, and isolating the af- fected marijuana products. An investigation started on November 29, 2022. The compa- nies that produce Bobsled prod- ucts (Bobsled, LLC) and Quan- tum Alchemy products (Happy Hollow Farms, Inc.) are cooper- ating with OLCC in the isolation and destruction of the affected items. Although the discovery of these incidents occurred simulta- neously, OLCC is investigating them as separate incidents. Consumers with health-re- lated concerns about a recalled product should contact the Ore- gon Poison Center at 800-222- 1222, or their medical provider. Advertise with diversity in The Portland Observer Call 503-288-0033 or email ads@portlandobserver.com
