The tiny Psilocybe mushrooms sold here are the stuff of legend among psychedelic enthusiasts. They’re called “magic mushrooms” because a single specimen can contain up to 25 milligrams of psilocybin, an hallucinogen that’s been compared with LSD and mescaline. It’s a controlled substance, which makes it illegal to grow or possess them in Canada unless you’re authorized by Health Canada to do so as part of a clinical trial involving psychotherapy.
In recent years, a few psilocybin users have been granted exemptions from federal drug laws and allowed to purchase the drug through special access from their physicians. But many others can’t spare the time and expense to go through this bureaucratic rigmarole, or they simply don’t want to risk being caught. So they buy their mushrooms from a growing number of brick-and-mortar stores that are openly selling the hallucinogen. More info shroomscanada.cc
Shrooms Canada is one of these storefronts. It’s located in Princeton, B.C., and the facility is operated by Optimi Health, a natural psychedelic drug development company licensed by Health Canada to cultivate magic mushrooms for research purposes. The company’s head cultivator, Todd Henderson, says the Princeton operation is capable of producing up to 2,000 kilograms of dried mushrooms a month, enough for more than a million doses of psilocybin.
Finding the Funghi: Where to Source Shrooms in Canada
This is a big business, and it has spawned a subculture of “shroom entrepreneurs” across the country. The trend is fuelled by a recent government policy shift. Last year, British Columbia decriminalized the possession of small amounts of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine — but not psilocybin. This has given the mushroom industry a fresh wind in its sails and spurred on optimism that the federal government will eventually follow suit.