OREGON CITY, Ore. — Voters in more than a dozen small cities around Oregon are overwhelmingly voting to ban psilocybin businesses within city limits.
Voters legalized magic mushroom businesses in 2020, and the first regulated shops began serving customers in 2023. But in the most recent election, voters in cities, including Lake Oswego and Oregon City, are supporting bans on all psilocybin shops and lounges.
Oregon City’s mayor, Denyse McGiff, said she isn’t surprised.
“It’s basically the same question they asked when asked if they wanted to allow marijuana shops in town,” she said.
McGiff said residents of Oregon City were more than willing to approve marijuana businesses and the taxes on them, but she said some voters may have regrets.
“Now, I’m hearing we have too many shops in town, and the comment I got last week: ‘Why don’t we get rid of them?’ ... I said, ‘It’s kind of not that easy,’” she said.
It’s not just Oregon City and Lake Oswego supporting a ban on magic mushroom businesses; voters in smaller towns around the state, including Sheridan and Sutherlin, are saying 'Not in our town.' Except for a close vote in Nehalem, it appears nearly all the bans in these areas are passing.
Sheridan Mayor Cale George said he wanted residents to decide whether to continue the town’s moratorium or ban the businesses for good.
“We do have a big population of veterans,” he said, “so it’s kind of a tough issue because it can help some people, but there’s kind of a negative connotation.”
A strong majority of Sheridan voters are supporting the ban, which surprises psilocybin advocate Heidi Pendergast, the state director of the Healing Advocacy Fund.
“It’s going to take some time,” Pendergast said, “but the program is working. Over 6,500 people have gone through the program in the last year-and-a-half, and it’s really a mental health revolution we’re seeing — but those things don’t happen overnight.”