The City of Stayton has joined neighboring communities in referring a ban on psilocybin businesses to voters for the Nov. 8 election, though with split opinions on the City Council.
The proposed ban passed 3-2 during a special meeting of the council Aug. 19, the final day the city could file paperwork with Marion County to be included in the 2022 General Election.
Opposing the ban were councilors Paige Hook and Ben McDonald, who said it was not the city’s place to limit access to the substance, which is the main psychoactive component in psychedelic mushrooms.
“I’m not in support of just banning things in our community,” said Hook. “I’m in support of freedom.”
“I am not in the habit of moralizing any specific substance when we as a society allow, legalize and consume as much alcohol as we do,” said McDonald. “I don’t see, personally, the difference.”
Potential clinical benefits
McDonald’s comment was made during a first reading of the ban proposal Aug. 15, during which he and Hook initially opposed the issue. Had approval been unanimous, it would have passed on first reading, but with opposition a second reading was required and the Aug. 19 special meeting was held for this purpose.
McDonald said he personally knew individuals who benefitted from the therapeutic use of psilocybin, which advocates say can help patients with depression, anxiety, PTSD and other conditions that have resisted traditional treatment. Such therapeutic use was the intent of a statewide measure legalizing psilocybin in 2020, which allowed the substance to be administered to patients 21 or older by a licensed clinician.
During the Aug. 19 meeting, McDonald emphasized this therapeutic intent, saying the manufacture and use of legalized psilocybin would not be the same as purchasing marijuana from a dispensary.
Moratorium proposed instead
Hook said she took issue with the ban itself, saying it amounted to just five people making a decision for an entire community. She acknowledged a majority of Stayton voters opposed the 2020 legalization measure, which saw 56.3 percent local opposition, but said much has changed in the community during the following two years.
“If the percentage was only 13 percent, that’s too close for me,” she said. “We should pause this and give the voters a chance.”
Hook made a motion to change the ban to a two-year moratorium, which would still require voter approval but Hook said would give the city time to respond to any specific regulations taking effect in January by the Oregon Health Authority, or give voters a chance to weigh their options and propose a ban themselves. However the motion did not receive a second and died for lack of support.
Electorate already opposed
But 56.3 percent was ample opposition for other councilors, who saw the ban as an opportunity to assert the will of voters.
Councilor Jordan Ohrt said COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and other recent regulations have diminished the city’s control over local policy, and passing a psilocybin ban would be a step toward re-asserting that control.
“The problem is we’ve lost home rule and this is our perfect opportunity to take something back,” said Ohrt, adding voters retain the right to vote against the ban.
Councilor Brian Quigley said ignoring voter preferences would be “irresponsible” and a councilor’s personal preference should not guide their decision making.
“It’s not a matter of morality, it’s not a matter of the plus and minuses of psilocybin,” he said. “… All we’re doing is asking voters in 90 days whether they want this in our community or not.”
Voters could still un-ban
Councilor David Patty asked, if a ban is approved this fall, whether or not voters could overturn the ban at some point in the future. City Manager Julia Hajduk said a citizen referendum, or even a council ordinance, could overturn the ban as early as 2024, and Patty said this would essentially be an equivalent of the two-year moratorium sought by Hook.
Hajduk added, if the council does not refer a ban to voters this year, the state could begin licensing local manufacturers and service providers beginning in January. After this point, a future ban may not restrict those who have already been approved.
“They would be grandfathered in because they have the license,” she said.
Ohrt said this emphasizes the need for the council to propose a ban during the current election cycle.
“This is our opportunity to stop it before it starts,” she said. “This is our home rule, this is our opportunity to head it off.”
Stayton joins Sublimity, Aumsville, Turner, Lyons, Mill City, Marion County and Linn County in placing psilocybin bans on the November ballot.
