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An illegal magic mushroom shop in Portland drew so many gamblers last week that they were forced to line up around the block.
The upscale mushroom shop, called Shroom House, has sprung up in town despite the fact that the sale of products containing psilocybin, the hallucinogenic ingredient in magic mushrooms, remains illegal in Oregon.
The store looks official and has a large sign attached to its facade depicting a mushroom that also looks like a house. The same distinctive logo is pasted on its glass windows.
In November 2020, Oregon passed Measure 109, a bill that would legalize the controlled therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms. However, that bill does not legalize its sale.
When questioned about the legality of the business, the store owner said local news channel KOIN ‘they’re not a dispensary, they’re a health and wellness store.’
Last Friday, Shroom House had customers lining up around the block to buy psychedelic products.
The store looks official and has a sign attached to its facade depicting a mushroom that also looks like a house.
The Oregon Health Authority confirmed to KOIN that there are currently no licensed mushroom dispensaries in the state. However, Oregon will begin accepting applications for permits to sell psilocybin products on January 2, 2023.
A recent employee of the store who has now resigned has approached the new network to say that when he was hired, the managers suggested that the operation was legal.
“Shroom House management led me to believe that this was the first medically licensed and sanctioned place to buy psychedelics in the state of Oregon,” said former employee Kace Colwell.
There they are violating all kinds of laws.
In 2020, Oregon passed Measure 109 legalizing the controlled use of mushrooms but not allowing their retail sale. A line formed on Friday that went around the block.
A customer who heard about the store and had since visited it twice did not believe it existed.
Reshawn Davis, who bought magic mushrooms that Shroom House named ‘Hillbilly’, said: ‘When I heard about this place, I thought I was crazy or something.’
‘And I knew this had to be real. I once checked the reviews to see if it’s a real store. Someone said the first mushroom dispensary in Oregon.
Colwell, who at first also thought the store was legitimate, said, “They’re just lying to people about the most basic facts about their store.”
“I don’t know what else they are willing to lie about,” he added.
The Portland Police Bureau confirmed that the Organized Crime and Narcotics Unit is aware of allegations that the store illegally sells psilocybin.
Local authorities told KOIN that they are aware of the illegal operation and that it is on their radar.
Reshawn Davis, who initially thought he was crazy when he heard about the first mushroom dispensary in Oregon, bought 3.5 grams of a mushroom the store called ‘Hillbilly’
Standing in the long line outside the Shroom House, it was clear to Jesus Bogas that he wanted to buy mushrooms for recreational purposes.
“Well, I voted for psilocybin mushrooms in the 2020 election. And I’m here to participate in that,” Bogas said.
Measure 109, the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act, was voted on by people across the state and passed with nearly 56 percent of the vote.
‘I understand there are some legal technicalities with this, but I’m here to see what it is. It’s enlightenment and it’s what I like to do.’
Shroom House’s opening comes amid an exodus of small businesses from the city that are at odds with its rising crime levels.
Last week in Portland, a retail store for the popular clothing brand Rains was forced to close after being broken into 15 times over the course of just two months.
The store’s owner, Marcy Landolfo, posted a notice in her window explaining her decision to close the store.
“We have no protection, nor recourse, against criminal conduct that goes unpunished. Don’t be fooled into thinking that insurance companies cover your losses. We have suffered 15 break-ins…we have not received any financial reimbursement since the 3rd,” he wrote.
When the store was raided in October, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler promised the city would come up with a plan to help business owners who had been attacked and needed assistance repairing their stores.
“Paying for glass is great, but that’s very superficial and doesn’t do anything to the root of the problem, so it’s never going to change,” Landolfo said.
Portland currently has more than 700 homeless encampments throughout the city in less than 150 square miles.
In recent years, Portland has also experienced an increase in the homicide rate. Last year there were 90 homicides in the city, breaking the previous record of 66
A Portland, Oregon clothing store closed permanently last month after dealing with 15 burglaries that have left it in financial trouble.
Rising crime and homeless encampments that have spread from the city center to the suburbs are driving businesses and residents out.
In recent years, Portland has also experienced an increase in the homicide rate. Last year there were 90 homicides in the city, breaking the previous record of 66 that was set more than three decades ago.
Last Wednesday, the city recorded its 93rd homicide of the year, breaking its all-time annual record with a full month of the year remaining.
Currently, the city has more than 700 homeless encampments within an area of less than 150 square miles.
Wheeler recently said he would ban unauthorized homeless encampments in the city, which have created a “vortex of misery.”
Rains wasn’t the only business feeling the pressure to pull out of Portland. A few days earlier, the famed Salt & Straw ice cream parlor threatened to move its headquarters out of state entirely.
Kim Malek, who founded the company in Portland with his cousin Tyler Malek, he told Oregon Live who doesn’t want to move but doesn’t feel their employees are safe.
“We will consider all options,” he said.
Salt & Straw was set up to be a community gathering place, according to its website, but co-founder Kim Malek said Wednesday that if things don’t change, they will be forced to leave.
Salt & Straw ice cream company has threatened to move its Portland headquarters out of Oregon as crime, drug use and homelessness continue to plague the Democratic city.
‘We don’t have concrete plans. But our intention is to be at the table working with the city and county to find a solution and not budge. Portland is part of the soul of our company. We love this city. It’s about having a safe place for our team to work.’
Residents and business owners have been saying for months that escalating crime and homelessness is affecting their way of life and safety.
“Our intention is to resolve this,” Malek said. I can’t stay here if we don’t.
The ice cream shop started in Portland, but now has stores all over the United States, including Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, and even at Disney.