{"data":[{"id":624,"feed_id":{"id":49,"status":"published","date_created":"2025-01-01T01:06:00.000Z","date_updated":"2025-01-01T01:07:40.798Z","promoted":true,"feed_connect":[{"id":40,"collection":"Articles","feed_id":{"id":49,"status":"published","user_created":"0cabeeee-b9f2-4440-ad9c-13e119f68b4c","date_created":"2025-01-01T01:06:00.000Z","user_updated":"0cabeeee-b9f2-4440-ad9c-13e119f68b4c","date_updated":"2025-01-01T01:07:40.798Z","promoted":true,"feed_connect":[40],"feed_tag":[618,619,620,621,622,623,624,625]},"item":{"id":66,"status":"published","date_created":"2025-01-01T01:06:00.000Z","title":"Canada's Wild West For Psychedelics in 2024","content_body":"

A wise person once told me - the crackdown on magic mushroom storefronts would happen in 2 years; at most. The year at the time...2023. As this is being posted on the last day of 2024 - those were really wise words and foresight. For some cities that were more hands-off in the beginning (like Toronto) are now turning up the heat on renegade shroom storefronts.

The psychedelic wave is not just particular to Toronto it's happening across Canada. Here is a brief list of Canada's wild west for psychedelics in 2024.

Alberta

What may come as a shock to many - Alberta is currently leading the way in psychedelics for medical purposes. If the trajectory of psychedelics is anything similar to cannabis - the path to recreational use happens after the medical industry is on board.

In October 2022, Alberta’s government introduced new requirements for psychedelic assisted therapy through an amendment to the Mental Health Services Protection Regulation. These requirements come into effect on January 16, 2023.

The Alberta government classifies Psychedelic drugs as: psilocybin, psilocin, MDMA, LSD, mescaline (peyote), DMT, 5 methoxy DMT and ketamine. In 2024 Alberta Blue Cross became the first major provincial insurer to cover Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in all of its forms

British Columbia

Canada's province of British Columbia, known for its leniency towards cannabis, appears to be following a similar path with psychedelics in recent years. This is more prevalent in cities like Vancouver where law enforcement more hands-off on psychedelics. However, even in cities such as Vancouver, psychedelics will face challenges in gaining government acceptance.

Dana Larson, a cannabis and psychedelic activist, has been in a battle with local officials in Vancouver for years with his psychedelic store being the battlefield - resulting in more than 3 raids within a year. The allegations originated from a 2022 city inspection, during which the inspector noted that the establishment resembled a mushroom dispensary far more than a café.

However in a recent court ruling a local judge sided with Mr. Larson. Many advocates argue that the city of Vancouver should end the court battles and begin regulating mushroom storefronts, following a model similar to the medical marijuana dispensary licensing system that paved way to legalization of cannabis.

Ontario

A major hub in the quest for psychedelics. Ontario is home to nearly 13 million Canadians so it isn't a surprise that this province in Canada experiences the highest number of magic mushroom storefronts. However, Ontario is not like British Columbia and Toronto is not like Vancouver.

Toronto

What originally started as one; that being Shroomyz, had now ballooned to over a dozen magic mushroom stores in the city of Toronto. Some large chains like: Funguyz & Shroomyz to a handful of smaller on-off stores. Majority of the storefronts happen in Toronto Downtown core and along the trendy Queen Street in Downtown Toronto.

Funguyz Raid

Funguyz a psychedelic retailer that at it's height had 13 retail stores under its belt. Majority of these stores operated within Ontario and more specifically in the GTA. Funguyz expierenced numerous raids in Toronto, Richmond Hill, Oshawa, Kingston and Windsor, the later resulting in a series of raids over the course of 2024.

Funguyz temporarily expanded into Montreal, but was met with heavy police enforcement. Stemming from the Montreal raid and mother and son plead guilty to trafficking a schedule 3 substance.

Funguyz announced on the 4th of November that they will be closing for good citing numerous city-wide raids and loss in product and the main reasons to shut it's doors. At the start of November 2024, Toronto police conducted a series of raids in 1 day across all Funguyz storefronts effectively shutdown all locations at the time.

There have been multiple rumors that even the owners/operators of the business had been apprehended.

Ottawa

Magic Mush a startup chain with 1 location in Ottawa and a second location in Toronto went through various back-and-forths with the city and landlords in Ottawa ultimately leading to a shift in delivery services.

News posting show that this store briefly opened in Winnipeg, Manitoba only to be shut down by Winnipeg's organized crime unit within a week. Police cited an overzealous lawyer as the reason to raid as hard as they did.

As of December 31 their Toronto location located in the bustling Kensington Market is also closed after a raid in late October.

Hamilton

Similar to Toronto, Hamilton also experienced a psychedelic rush in 2024. 2 long standing storefronts Mushroom Cabinet and Shroomys both experienced numerous raids.

Early October of 2024 both The Mushroom Cabinet and Shroomyz were both raided by Hamilton Police, seizing close to 10kg of dried mushrooms and a larger quantity of edibles and cash on hand. These string of raids had effectively closed both stores in the city for good - resulting in one switching to a delivery-based model.

Kitchener/Waterloo & Cambridge

Even areas outside of the GTA saw a breif stint with magic mushroom storefronts. Both in Kitchener and in Cambridge these store did not last no more than a month in operation were even a few were shutdown within weeks of opening.

In mid fall - this region also saw a large scale mushroom lab taken down by local police in the Township of Puslinch which is not too far from Cambridge.

Quebec

Governed under a little different in ideology compared to the rest of Canada. Very few areas in Quebec are easy to get into. But being the 2nd largest province in the country, Quebecors are known to be big fans of psychedelics. It's only a matter of time before it becomes mainstream in this province. 1 company tried to take it further - but didn't get far.

Montreal

Funguyz attempted a storefront in Quebec's largest city which raised immediately eyebrows as Montreal is not a city where the experienced any type of storefront outside of what's controlled by Le SAQ.

But they did it anyway. The results, a string of raids and reopens - but ultimately the Montreal police conducted several raids across the city resulting in many being charged and some even pleading guilty in early 2024.

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“I think it’s a good ruling. It’s kind of a technical ruling,” said Dana Larsen, owner of the Coca Leaf Cafe, a medicinal mushroom dispensary.

The City of Vancouver claimed the dispensary was violating its business license as a retail and food establishment by selling magic mushrooms containing psilocybin, a psychedelic drug that is illegal in Canada.

The allegations originated from a 2022 city inspection, during which the inspector noted that the establishment resembled a mushroom dispensary far more than a café.

However, the review noted the inspector “did not purchase anything from the business, seize any of the products or have them tested to determine if they contained psilocybin.”

The inspector also noted that the dispensary has membership cards in which members agree to use psychoactive substances safely and keep them away from minors.

“It’s not a big secret what we do here or anything like that, but the reality is a license inspector is not empowered to test substances, to purchase allegedly illegal substances,” Larsen said.

The ruling stated a “possibility or probability does not meet the standard of proof.”

Advocates argue that the city should end the court battles and begin regulating mushroom dispensaries, following a model similar to the medical marijuana dispensary licensing system.

“It was a bit of a wild west where stores were popping up everywhere,” councillor Mike Klasses said of the sale of cannabis products in Vancouver.

“I don’t think we want to see that kind of problem occur again in our city.”

The court found the dispensary operator guilty of defying the city's shutdown order, but Larsen said they have no plans to leave.

“(I) think this shop will outlast the current city council,” he said.

Last November, Vancouver police raided three of Larsen's mushroom dispensaries and reported seizing controlled substances. They also stated that they will be recommending charges to Crown counsel.

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