To the Editor:

I attended the Philomath City Council meeting on July 25 about the sales of psilocybin mushrooms (hallucinogenic) within Philomath and I am disappointed. Others join me in disappointment. Fellow citizens sent emails to ask for a ban and I went to the meeting to ask in person. 

We do not want sales of psilocybin mushrooms in the city of Philomath. Three councilors listened to the public input and voted on the ban. Four others voted for a two-year moratorium, which will make the drug available at the end of the moratorium. 

Philomath voted for Measure 109 in 2020. … Many thought it would be prescribed by doctors and not sold through a dispensary. State of Oregon’s OHA decision is to have licensed “facilitators” with a high school diploma, who have 160 hours of training to be in charge of who gets these hallucinogenic mushrooms.

See this link on the state of Oregon’s website. See the fact sheet to understand. There is no prescription or medical personnel involved and a nonmedical facilitator is not who should be handing these out … especially if they are making a profit.  

Many may vote down the moratorium — that will backfire because if we do that, this drug is sold on our streets legally in January. We must vote yes on the moratorium.

To be clear, the decision was led by Councilor (Jessica) Andrade and Councilor (Catherine) Biscoe, who originally wanted no vote for the people, allowing the sales in six months. Both of these councilors have mentioned they would like Philomath to be more like Corvallis. I guess selling psilocybin mushrooms is part of that goal. Are they trying to ruin Philomath? 

The police chief has safety concerns. What if someone is driving under the influence? What if their paranoia, impaired judgment or hallucinations take them out of control or if the client becomes aggressive and causes harm to others? Our police and fire department will have to deal with this.

Andrade said she was concerned about people that can not afford transportation to Corvallis, so she supports bringing dispensaries contaminating our community with a Section I drug that the U.S. government says “has a high potential for misuse and has no currently accepted medical use for treatment.” 

I was disappointed but also angry at the blatant disregard for our wishes. Philomath City Council I think you missed greatly on this one. 

Diane Crocker
Philomath