Federal Study Launches to Evaluate Oregon's Legal Psilocybin Program for Substance Use Disorders
核心洞察
Oregon Health & Science University and Legacy Research Institute (搜索) received a $3.3 million NIH grant to conduct the first federal study of Oregon's regulated psilocybin services.
The five-year study will track 1,600 participants with substance use disorders (搜索) to evaluate safety and effectiveness of psilocybin treatment in real-world settings.
Preliminary data from Osmind (搜索)'s naturalistic study of 88 participants showed significant improvements in depression (搜索) and anxiety (搜索) scores following supervised psilocybin sessions.
Oregon Health & Science University and Legacy Research Institute (搜索) have secured a landmark $3.3 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to conduct the first federally funded study of Oregon's legal psilocybin program. The five-year research project will examine the safety and effectiveness of state-regulated psychedelic services operating in community settings, marking a significant shift from laboratory-controlled trials to real-world applications.
Groundbreaking Federal Investment in Psychedelic Research
The Oregon Psilocybin Evaluation Nexus (OPEN), co-directed by Dr. Todd Korthuis, head of addiction (搜索) medicine at OHSU, and scientist Adie Rae from Legacy Research Institute (搜索), represents the first federal investigation into legal psychedelic services. "The fact that they funded this is really promising, and it means that the U.S. will begin to get answers around what's really going on with these psychedelic services," Korthuis said.
Oregon pioneered regulated psilocybin access in 2020 when voters approved Measure 109, allowing adults 21 and older to use psilocybin under supervision at state-licensed centers. Unlike traditional medical clinics, these facilities operate more like wellness centers, with trained facilitators who don't require medical backgrounds supervising sessions. Colorado has since implemented similar legislation, with more than two dozen other states introducing comparable programs.
Addressing the Evidence Gap
Since licensed service centers opened in summer 2023, approximately 15,000 people have received psilocybin services across Oregon's two dozen licensed facilities. This number dramatically exceeds the roughly 3,000 participants in psychedelic clinical trials conducted since the 1950s. "This is why it's so critical that we accurately document and inform and pass on the lessons," Korthuis emphasized.
The OHSU study will specifically focus on individuals with substance use disorders (搜索) seeking to reduce or quit alcohol, nicotine, or other drugs. "We're focusing on substance use because the vast majority of people who use drugs or alcohol also have mental health problems," Korthuis explained. "Since research on psilocybin shows it can help with depression (搜索) and anxiety (搜索), the idea is that it may also help people cut back on their use of substances."
Early Evidence from Real-World Settings
Preliminary data supporting psilocybin's therapeutic potential comes from a naturalistic study published by Osmind (搜索), which tracked 88 participants seeking treatment for depression (搜索) and anxiety (搜索) at Oregon's licensed centers. The study used standardized assessment tools including the PHQ-8 questionnaire for depression, GAD-7 for anxiety, and WHO-5 for overall well-being, with measurements taken before sessions, one day after, and one month later.
Results demonstrated clinically significant improvements across all measures. Depression (搜索) scores on the PHQ-8 scale dropped by an average of 4.6 points, shifting participants from moderate to mild severity. Anxiety (搜索) decreased by 4.8 points on the GAD-7 scale, while well-being increased by 10.7 points on the WHO-5 index. No serious adverse events occurred during sessions, though 3 percent of participants reported lingering issues such as heightened anxiety or family strain one month later.
Study Design and Methodology
Over the next five years, researchers plan to enroll at least 1,600 participants in a comparative study design. Some participants will receive psilocybin services while attempting to reduce substance use, while others will try to cut back without psilocybin treatment. Participants will complete surveys before treatment begins and six follow-up assessments over one year, allowing researchers to compare outcomes between groups.
The research team has already collected data from approximately 340 clients across most of Oregon's licensed service centers. Korthuis emphasized that "psilocybin is not a replacement for existing treatments for addiction (搜索)," noting that effective treatments already exist for opioid and alcohol use disorders, which patients should pursue first.
Regulatory Context and Future Implications
Despite Oregon's legal framework, psilocybin remains classified as a Schedule I drug under federal law, alongside cannabis and heroin, indicating substances considered to have high abuse potential and no accepted medical use. The Drug Enforcement Administration (搜索) has reportedly requested that Health and Human Services review whether psilocybin should maintain this classification.
Rae suggested psilocybin could follow a trajectory similar to acupuncture, transitioning from fringe treatment to widely accepted complementary medicine through accumulated evidence. The current research aims to address fundamental questions about safety, efficacy, side effects, and expected experiences that clients currently lack adequate information about.
The federal investment in studying Oregon's novel approach represents a significant validation of the state's experimental framework, which created an entirely new mental health services model using non-medical facilitators to administer a substance still undergoing clinical trials elsewhere.