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Early this summer, Bend therapist and shroom facilitator Sam Gross surveyed license holders in Oregon’s legal psilocybin program to see what they would do if the state followed through on its plan to double license fees.
The study had its limits, but he says the overwhelming majority of the nearly 150 who responded said they would not renew at the proposed rates.
To Gross, this undercuts the rationale for jacking up prices and suggests a structural problem facing Oregon’s first in-the-nation, and already struggling, legal psychedelic industry that is supposed to self-fund its regulation: Higher fees lead to fewer licensees, fewer licensees produce less revenue for the program, and the remaining licensees are then asked to shoulder an even larger share of the cost. (He and others say high costs in turn substantially limit public interest in the service.)
Gross feels his findings made little impression on state officials—though, he adds, if they are skeptical of his results, they could conduct their own survey, which is “incredibly easy to do.”
Still, in a rule making notice this past month, the state seemed to have reached a similar conclusion, saying it “expects that an increase in licensing fees may reduce the overall number of licensees and create a more significant program budget shortfall.”
In addition to raising fees overall, the proposal would eliminate discounts for certain groups. Gross says he got the discount because he was a military veteran, meaning he had to pay $1,000 for his facilitator license rather than the standard $2,000.
If the proposed changes go through, he would have to pay $4,000 to renew.
For psilocybin, service centers and manufacturers the scale is greater, with licensing fees set to jump from $10,000 to $20,000.
Opponents of the fee hikes are organizing ahead of public feedback meetings set for Sept. 15 and 16.
The Oregon Health Authority did not respond to questions by press time, but a spokesperson referred WW to the rule making notice. That document acknowledged the proposal would increase license fees “significantly,” but said it was being proposed because the ballot measure that authorized the psilocybin program has anticipated the program would be self-sustaining, which it currently “is not.”
