Patients who benefit from the therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms called on the government to decriminalize or legalize and regulate the substance as more illegal retail shops continue to open—and get raided and shut down—around Canada.
Janis Hughes has undergone psilocybin-assisted therapies to better come to terms with her own mortality after a terminal cancer diagnosis a few years ago. She was initially denied a Section 56 exemption from Health Canada, which would have allowed her to receive psilocybin-assisted therapies with Therapsil, a nonprofit group of healthcare professionals working to make psilocybin therapies easier for patients to access. After going public with her story Hughes began working with a Winnipeg-based therapist who worked with psilocybin and other psychedelics
“It was the most marvelous state of being I’ve ever experienced. And I felt like it was where I’m going to go when I die,” Hughes said. “I was floating among the stars, there were vines that I was catching onto, and I was laughing. I just couldn’t stop laughing.”
“Both trips were fabulous. My fear of dying was totally erased,” Hughes added.
Winnipeg police recently raided a business that called itself “Manitoba’s first magic mushroom dispensary,” seizing $10,000 worth of psilocybin products and arresting two people while claiming they found evidence of drug trafficking. Magic Mush, who previously opened stores in Ottawa and Toronto, offically launched the Winnipeg store in Osborne Village on May 13. The man and woman arrested are believed to be involved in the operation of the store and each face two counts of drug trafficking and possession of a substance for the purpose of trafficking in addition to possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime over $5,000.
“We’re hoping that similar to what happened in the cannabis industry, which started in what we’d like to call a grey market, we’ll move to a legal market as the governments start to become more aware that there is an interest and there is a demand in it, especially in safe consumption,” said Jamie Kagan, a Winnipeg-based lawyer and partner at Thompson Dorfman Sweatman who represents the owners of Magic Mush.
Hughes said she sees parallels between the current psilocybin market and how the cannabis market was in Canada before the country made recreational cannabis legal in 2018, with businesses opening and selling the product illegally before legislation to legalize the drug was passed.
“I do see this as one of those elements that’s going to help push this forward, but I do regret that there are people that may be hurt in the process, and that bad press may result that undermines the whole movement,” said Hughes. “But I do endorse people making … the natural substance available.”
Police said they were aware of the store being opened and planned to take a “soft” approach to shutting the store down until Kagan was observed being outspoken about the store to the media. Another illegal psilocybin dispensary was shut down by Hamilton police just one day after the store had opened.
Advocates for the medical use of psilocybin mushrooms in Canada recently launched a petition to call on the government to legalize and provide access to therapeutic psilocybin. The advocates listed reasons why psilocybin-assisted therapy should be legalized in Canada, pointing to previous medical evidence that shows psilocybin-assisted therapy can effectively treat existential suffering in patients, as well as psilocybin’s low potential for harm. In order to be presented to the Canadian House of Commons, petitions must be certified by the Clerk of Petitions, be signed at least 500 Canadian residents and must be authorized by a Member of Parliament.
