Dr. Bronner’s, the natural soap for basically anything according to the label, is joining the fight in Oregon to legalize psilocybin in controlled settings.

According to a press release sent out Friday, David Bronner, CEO of Dr. Bronner’s, will join the initiatives chief petitioners Tom and Sheri Eckert Friday night at the Newmark Theatre in Portland at a kick-off event for the Oregon Psilocybin Service Initiative signature drive.

The Eckert’s hope their initiative will allow Oregonians to access psilocybin in a therapeutic setting to treat a range of issues from depression to anxiety to addiction.

At the event, the release said, Bronner “will announce his company’s matching contribution of $150,000 to the initiative.”

Backers of the initiative have until July 2, 2020, to get 112,020 signatures to get the measure on the November 2020 ballot.

“The Bronner family is no stranger to severe depression and anxiety,” Bronner said in the release. “We firmly believe that the integration of psilocybin therapy, to which the FDA recently granted a special ‘breakthrough designation’ is crucial to heal epidemic rates of depression, anxiety, and addiction that pharmaceutical drugs are completely inadequate for.”

Psilocybin remains an illegal Schedule 1 controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052 lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker

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