The Marion County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday will consider putting an ordinance on the November ballot that would ban psilocybin manufacturing and service centers in unincorporated areas of the county.

Oregonians in 2020 voted for Measure 109, which legalized psilocybin manufacturing and service centers. Rules for those facilities and specifics of how services will be provided are still being determined through the state’s rulemaking process, but county governments in Oregon can adopt an ordinance prohibiting them from operating in unincorporated areas.

Indigenous people in the Americas for thousands of years have used psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called “magic mushrooms,” and clinical trials in the U.S. have more recently shown the drug is effective in reducing depression and anxiety.

If approved, the ordinance would go before Marion County voters in the Nov. 8 general election. The Keizer City Council referred a similar measure banning psilocybin facilities to voters last week.

AGENDA

Commissioners will also consider renewing the Oregon State Hospital’s lease with Marion County Health and Human Services at 2435 Greenway Drive N.E. through June 2025. They will consider adding $43,200 to the contract, which would bring the new total to $201,600.

The board will consider renewing another lease with the state hospital for another cottage at 555 24th Place N.E. through June 2025. They would be adding $36,000, bringing the new contract total to $168,000.

The board will also consider awarding $1 million in federal pandemic relief funding to the city of Aurora for improvements to its water system through December 2026. Many of the city’s existing downtown water lines are old, deteriorating, undersized and built from inadequate material, according to the agenda item.

Commissioners will consider a $475,000 contract with Salem Health for delivering inpatient psychiatric health services, retroactive from Jan. 1 and through December.

The board will also consider purchasing radio controllers totaling about $227,000 from Tait North America, Inc. The equipment is needed as part of a broader replacement of the county’s ultra high frequency radio system, which would serve Marion County Public Works as well as provide backup coverage for the sheriff’s office, juvenile department and emergency management, according to the agenda item.

They will also hold a public hearing to consider an appeal by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife of the hearings officer’s decision to allow an excavation project to be expanded from 50 acres to 187 acres on land zoned as timber conservation.

-Ardeshir Tabrizian

Salem Reporter