Deschutes County needs a plan if voters in the county affirm the decision to allow therapeutic use of psilocybin or magic mushroom therapy in November’s election.
The planning commission heard from several people Thursday night, from lawyers and students to veterans.
Comments will help decide what recommendations head to county commissioners.
“You’re putting all these limitations on all these what ifs, could be, that you yourself are saying you don’t even know,” said one commenter.
“If the voters decided they want to have a program, we need to have some land use rules in place to govern that program. To figure out where things can go, can’t go, what it might look like on the ground,” said Senior Planner for Deschutes County Tanya Saltzman.
The Planning Commission is on a tight timeline to make a final recommendation to county commissioners, sending a proposal for time, place, and manner for psilocybin centers.
Close to a dozen people spoke Thursday, with similar concerns over the initial draft.
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A problem with time.
“Any regulations that don’t require overnight stays for those traveling alone are unreasonable,” said a commenter.
A problem with place.
“It’s the natural environment that can really help folks blossom through this experience and that non-natural setting can actually be detractive or harmful,” said another commenter.
A problem with manner.
“You are trying to plan for something that you don’t know what your chain of command is going to do, and that doesn’t sound reasonable. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes,” said another commenter.
The planning commission is leaving written opinion open for the record for a few weeks and the public hearing will be continued to October 13, which means that people can continue to submit written comments until then, and they will also have an opportunity to provide verbal testimony at that continuation. Then the planning commission will deliberate on a separate date and provide a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners, who will then hold their own hearing
