Oregon’s voters, who passed Proposition 109 by 2020, opened the door to greater therapeutic access for psilocybin mushroom products and their active compounds. This ballot measure was passed with over 55% approval. It authorized the Oregon Health Authority to establish a program that would allow licensed service providers 21 or older to administer and produce psilocybin producing mushroom products.
A model for progressive drug policy reform, Prop. Prop. 109 laid the foundation for a whole new industry to be developed in Oregon. Psilocybin Services Section of the OHA is responsible for drafting regulations to regulate and license the manufacture, transport, delivery, purchase, sale and purchase of products containing psilocybin, as well as psilocybin-related services. The program must be operational by 2023. It is now accepting applications from entrepreneurs for business licenses to sell psilocybin.
The birth of a new business
George Sellhorn is the founder and principal researcher at Flourish Laboratories, located in Portland. He’s one of many business owners who are preparing to launch legal psilocybin for Oregon. Since he was an adolescent, he has been a fan of psychedelics. This includes psilocybin. He says that they have made a huge impact on his life. Since 1993, he has grown his own cannabis plants with the help of High Times and their tips. Sellhorn’s passion and interest for cannabis drove him to pursue academics. He earned a PhD in Plant Biochemistry in 2006 from the University of Washington.
The legal cannabis market in the U.S. at that time was still in its early stages, with few positions available in any professional field. Sellhorn began his career in biotechnology, working for a time on HIV vaccines and cancer therapies. Friends with companies in this emerging field encouraged him to start a marijuana testing laboratory. He decided to wait and see where the path he chose would lead him. However, he dabbled in the cannabis industry for a while, helping a few friends set up labs. Sellhorn’s decision at first seemed to be the right one, but he soon regretted it.
In a phone interview, he told me that a few years after he started his lab, he was “kicking himself” for not doing so. He said, “I would have been happier if I had done it.”
After Prop. After the passage of Prop. Friends in the soon to be legal cannabis industry once again encouraged him. This ballot measure contains provisions that direct the OHA to develop regulations on testing for contamination in psilocybin-containing products. The therapists will also want to know what dosage they are administering. This leads to the need to have potency information throughout the supply chain.
Sellhorn recalled thinking “I’ve already been down this path before.” He decided to not make the same mistake twice. In September 2021 he ordered the equipment and supplies that he needed to open the business. By the start of 2022 Flourish Labs would be ready to take samples and run tests.
Sellhorn points out that lab testing of mushrooms and cannabis are very similar, with a key difference. Sellhorn, like many cannabis laboratories, uses HPLC-UV (high-performance liquid-chromatography combined with ultraviolet spectroscopy) to determine the makeup of samples. The alkaloids found in mushrooms, however, are not fat-soluble like cannabinoids (hydrophobic). Instead, they are water-soluble, making it necessary to change the way the lab works. Sellhorn sums it up: “Same methods, just opposite chemistry.”
Psilocybin and Other Lab Tests
Sellhorn’s testing time is largely spent determining how much psychoactive alkaloids or potency a sample has. Over 50 mushroom species produce psilocybin. It is produced at varying levels depending on factors such as genetics and cultivating practices.
Sellhorn says that the most powerful mushroom I have seen is Albino Penis Envy, or APE. Eve tested from 0.1% to up 2.3% alkaloids. There’s quite a range. “I’d estimate that the average is between 0.5% and 0.7% [by weight] of alkaloids.”
Sellhorn’s initial business plan involved analysing mushrooms containing psilocybin or related alkaloids such as psilocin and psilocybin. Other compounds included baeocystin and norbaeocystin. He has developed test protocols to determine the safety of other psilocybin-containing products that will likely be sold in Oregon on a regulated market.
He explains, “I also can do gummies and fruiting bodies, as well as chocolates and extracts whether they are liquid or dry.” “I have created a recipe for every product that is currently possible, and that I am aware of.”
The Dosage Is Key
Sellhorn says that renewed interest in psilocybin’s reported benefits for health and wellbeing has led to a culture of microdosing. Sellhorn practices this practice since more than four year. Sellhorn says that to microdose, a small fraction of the psilocybin dose is used, maybe 0.1-0.2 milligrams. This is equivalent to between a 10th and two-tenths a gram mushroom biomass with mushrooms that are of average potency. He says that a microdose of this amount is a good one. You can also adjust the dose based on your body weight. A microdose is enough to boost your mood without feeling like you are about to go on a trip.
The other extreme is macrodosing. This involves taking enough of the drug to create a powerful psychedelic experience. It can be either a great trip, or it could lead to life-changing psychological or spiritual breakthroughs depending on how the drug was taken. Sellhorn recommends a macrodosing of between 30 and 50 milligrams (about 5 grams mushroom biomass). This should produce a powerful trip. There are doses between micro- and macro-dosing for what you want.
Sellhorn points out that, in addition to the potency of psilocybin, the way it is taken may also affect the drug’s effects. Although eating dried mushrooms has been the traditional method, extracts of psilocybin or products made with it may alter the effects.
It’s now abundantly obvious to me that mushroom biomass acts as a capsule for time release. If you consume a mushroom with, for example, 5 milligrams psilocybin, then you will get an effect, says he. It will take some time for it to kick in. If you put five milligrams into a candy or chocolate, you’ll feel it much faster. It will be more intense and last longer.
Sellhorn has also been able to expand his knowledge of psilocybin by working in the laboratory. Proper storage can preserve the potency and effectiveness of psilocybin mushroom. A client wanted to know the potency of psilocybin mushrooms. An in-house test determined that mushrooms kept in vacuum-sealed bags and in darkness at 60deg Fahrenheit maintained 98% potency.
A Growing Scientific Field
Although he sees a strong market for analyzing psilocybin-containing mushrooms coming to Oregon, Sellhorn realized that demand for lab testing may be limited until the industry is more established and generating revenue. Testing for heavy metals and microbial contamination will be included in the regulations of the state, but this testing isn’t yet very popular. Flourish Labs began testing functional mushrooms, such as cordyceps (famous for folklore, pop culture, and popular music), reishi and amanita mucaria, in the lab to determine if they contain compounds with health benefits. The lab will also test chaga (a type of mushroom), maitake, turkey tail, and lion’s-mane in the months to come.
Oregon will be launching a whole new industry when it begins regulating the production and distribution of psilocybin in therapeutic applications later this year. It is a major milestone for the ongoing evolution of drug reform. A new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators, such as Sellhorn and Flourish labs, will lead the charge.
The original version of this article appeared in High Times Magazine, issue February 2023, .
Brave New World was the first to appear on High Times.
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