In recent weeks, Shroom House has been in the news for selling shrooms. It announced its grand opening via Twitter platform a couple of months ago. As part of a search warrant, 22.1 pounds of psilocybin in plastic bags were seized from the “Shroom House” by Portland police on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Police obtained dried fungus and other edibles as evidence in their ongoing investigation of the business on West Burnside Street in Portland.
In 2020, Oregon became the first state in the country to legalize the use of psilocybin for people 21 and older in a controlled, therapeutic environment under the supervision of trained facilitators. But the ballot measure, approved by 56% of voters, did not allow for retail sale — and legalization won’t take effect until next month. In November, Colorado became the second state to pass a measure legalizing psychedelic mushrooms. The drugs are still federally illegal.
Steven Tachie, Jr., 32, and Jeramiahs Geronimo, 32, were booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on suspicion of 10 counts each of money laundering and 10 counts each of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school. Two other men were cited for alleged felony delivery of psilocybin, police said.
Investigators seized about 22 pounds of suspected mushrooms and over $13,000 in cash, police said. The seized drugs field-tested presumptive positive for psilocybin, police said, and a representative sample will be sent to the Oregon State Police crime lab to be confirmed.
Voters across Oregon mostly voted against allowing the therapeutic use of the psychedelic drug psilocybin on Tuesday. Jackson and Deschutes were the only two counties in the state to vote in favor of allowing psilocybin manufacturing and service centers. Coos, Curry, Douglas, Klamath and Josephine counties voted down local measures.
Municipalities in Lane, Marion, and Clackamas county also voted down local measures. The issue was not on the ballot in Oregon’s largest cities: Portland, Salem, Eugene, or Bend. Across the state, most counties voted against psilocybin, as they did in 2020. Four counties — Clackamas, Clatsop, Curry, and Tillamook — switched from being in favor to being against it.
The issue did not appear on the ballot in nine counties, which were all in favor of psilocybin in 2020. Those counties are: Lane, Benton, Lincoln, Wasco, Hood River, Multnomah, Yamhill, Washington, and Columbia.
