“The volume is definitely turned up,” agrees Travis Tyler Fluck, co-founder of Denver Mushroom Cooperative and a leader of the Decriminalize Denver movement. “There are group meet-ups where people are happy to share mushrooms and talk about this stuff. It’s a source of pride.”

Leaders of the movement say decriminalization is an important step to take before legalization, because it allows individuals and smaller businesses to enter the game at a lower cost than might happen with immediate, broad legalization and subsequent bureaucracy.

“It allows people to engage at a small level without having to go corporate right out of the gate,” says Carlos Plazola, who co-founded the influential Decriminalize Nature organization in response to what he views as the missteps of cannabis legalization.

Because of stiff regulations, high tax rates, and steep licensing fees, the recreational cannabis industry is now dominated by big businesses with deep-pocketed investors, while plummeting profit margins have also made it difficult for mom and pop shops to survive. As a result, many legacy cannabis operators have chosen to remain underground; California’s illicit marijuana market is now $8 billion, double the size of its legal one.

In Oregon, the only state where psilocybin has been legalized for therapeutic use, all residents over 21 will have access to mushroom therapy centers beginning next year, when the law goes into effect. At these centers, clients won’t be allowed to purchase mushrooms for home use. Rather, they’ll need to go through a process involving the supervision of a licensed facilitator trained under a government-approved program, who’ll assist with administering the mushrooms and guiding them through sessions. Although the price of these therapies is still undetermined, it will likely cost several thousand dollars and not be covered by insurance.

The challenge for regulators is how to create a framework that will allow legal mushroom businesses to thrive against fierce competition from the underground. “We know there is an unregulated market, as well as centuries of use by Indigenous communities,” says Angela Allbee, the psilocybin services section manager at the Oregon Health Authority, the government agency tasked with awarding licenses for therapy centers, cultivators, testing labs, and service providers.

Allbee says the OHA has engaged with community outreach to encourage participants in the unregulated market to come on board. The agency is also engineering a “spore-to-door” tracking system to prevent an overabundance of product from being diverted into the unregulated space. It will be similar to the current “seed-to-sale” system, known as Metrc, that tracks commercial cannabis activity across the distribution chain.

Some experts are concerned that the current underground market lacks quality control and other safety measures. “It’s the wild, Wild West, and you can do whatever you want,” says Ophelia Chong, cannabis consultant and founder of Asian Americans for Cannabis Education. “There’s no [federal] regulations or testing, it’s all cash, and there’s no one to answer to.”

Despite these concerns, the gray market will likely continue to serve large segments of the population that can’t afford legal mushroom therapy. “This model is following the for-profit health-care system that is not accessible to most people,” says Alex Wilson, lead organizer at Decriminalize Nature Portland.

“The volume is definitely turned up,” agrees Travis Tyler Fluck, co-founder of Denver Mushroom Cooperative and a leader of the Decriminalize Denver movement. “There are group meet-ups where people are happy to share mushrooms and talk about this stuff. It’s a source of pride.”

Leaders of the movement say decriminalization is an important step to take before legalization, because it allows individuals and smaller businesses to enter the game at a lower cost than might happen with immediate, broad legalization and subsequent bureaucracy.

“It allows people to engage at a small level without having to go corporate right out of the gate,” says Carlos Plazola, who co-founded the influential Decriminalize Nature organization in response to what he views as the missteps of cannabis legalization.

Because of stiff regulations, high tax rates, and steep licensing fees, the recreational cannabis industry is now dominated by big businesses with deep-pocketed investors, while plummeting profit margins have also made it difficult for mom and pop shops to survive. As a result, many legacy cannabis operators have chosen to remain underground; California’s illicit marijuana market is now $8 billion, double the size of its legal one.

In Oregon, the only state where psilocybin has been legalized for therapeutic use, all residents over 21 will have access to mushroom therapy centers beginning next year, when the law goes into effect. At these centers, clients won’t be allowed to purchase mushrooms for home use. Rather, they’ll need to go through a process involving the supervision of a licensed facilitator trained under a government-approved program, who’ll assist with administering the mushrooms and guiding them through sessions. Although the price of these therapies is still undetermined, it will likely cost several thousand dollars and not be covered by insurance.

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The challenge for regulators is how to create a framework that will allow legal mushroom businesses to thrive against fierce competition from the underground. “We know there is an unregulated market, as well as centuries of use by Indigenous communities,” says Angela Allbee, the psilocybin services section manager at the Oregon Health Authority, the government agency tasked with awarding licenses for therapy centers, cultivators, testing labs, and service providers.

Allbee says the OHA has engaged with community outreach to encourage participants in the unregulated market to come on board. The agency is also engineering a “spore-to-door” tracking system to prevent an overabundance of product from being diverted into the unregulated space. It will be similar to the current “seed-to-sale” system, known as Metrc, that tracks commercial cannabis activity across the distribution chain.

Some experts are concerned that the current underground market lacks quality control and other safety measures. “It’s the wild, Wild West, and you can do whatever you want,” says Ophelia Chong, cannabis consultant and founder of Asian Americans for Cannabis Education. “There’s no [federal] regulations or testing, it’s all cash, and there’s no one to answer to.”

Despite these concerns, the gray market will likely continue to serve large segments of the population that can’t afford legal mushroom therapy. “This model is following the for-profit health-care system that is not accessible to most people,” says Alex Wilson, lead organizer at Decriminalize Nature Portland.

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-21/shrooms-psilocybin-psychedelics-black-market-business-moves-to-mainstream?srnd=premium-canada