The Oregon psilocybin advisory board says that it has joined hands with Harvard Law School to jointly study the culture and history of psychedelics. The panel believes this study will help in decriminalizing psychedelics in states which are pursuing the same.
The advisory board is mandated with advising on implementation of a legal psilocybin therapy program. Back in July, the board released a reviewed study on psilocybin. The report captured therapeutic values of psilocybin in relation to various mental conditions like depression and anxiety.
Mason Marks, a member of the advisory board and the director of Harvard’s psychedelics policy center, says that Oregon is among the states leading in the initiative to decriminalize possession and use of psychedelics. He says this partnership will help the board to make better and informed choices on the matter.
The study will take around six month to complete as the researchers will be mandated with providing a comprehensive report examining how prohibition of psilocybin has affected marginalized communities and how law reforms in Oregon will affect the communities.
The research proposal indicates the study will analyze and review existing studies and quoting potential sources of data including; anthropology literature, bioethics literature, public health data, legislative materials, narrative descriptions of psilocybin use, medical and psychological literature from mid-20th century and legal scholarship.
