A Trip Through Employment Law: Protecting Therapeutic Psilocybin Users in the Workplace

In 2020, Oregon voters legalized therapeutic psilocybin in response to a plethora of scientific studies showing symptom reduction for depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, opioid addictions, migraines, other mental illnesses, HIV/AIDS, and cancer. The legal rethinking regarding therapeutic psilocybin continues in both state legislatures and city councils. Yet, despite state and local legalization or decriminalization of therapeutic psilocybin it remains illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act. This tension between local and federal law places therapeutic psilocybin users and their employers in a difficult position.

Because all types of psilocybin use remain illegal under federal law, a zero-tolerance drug use workplace policy would discipline a state sanctioned psilocybin user for off-site or off-hours therapeutic psilocybin use. Therefore, this article proposes that as states and cities legalize therapeutic psilocybin, jurisdictions should adopt employment protections for therapeutic psilocybin users like states have adopted for medical cannabis users. The proposed statute in this article protects therapeutic psilocybin users from adverse action based solely on off-site and off-hours drug use and balances employers’ rights.