A small but mushroom dispensary Ottawa number of Canadians are trying to circumvent the law by buying psilocybin from storefronts. Despite federal drug laws banning the production, sale and possession of magic mushrooms (which contain psilocin), shops like Winnipeg’s Magic Mush and a few others in large city centres say they’re offering customers a safe and responsible way to access the hallucinogen. But they are also exposing themselves to a risky legal fight with police and could face charges for illegally selling the drug.

Legalizing Liberation: The Journey of Magic Mushroom Dispensaries in Canada

Last week, police raided a Magic Mush outlet in a Winnipeg strip mall and seized packages of dried psilocybin mushrooms, gummies and chocolate bars made from the drug and almost $6,000 in cash. But the store opened again the next day. Winnipeg police Insp. Dave Hall says the service was initially planning a “softer approach” to the establishment but switched to an enforcement approach after the public comments of those associated with the shop who said they were providing a useful service and had no intention of shutting down.

Lawyer Eugene Oscapella, who teaches drug policy at the University of Ottawa, says that like marijuana stores in the first few years after pot was legalized, mushroom dispensaries are exploiting a grey area. He says police may have more pressing issues to focus on — such as fentanyl and heroin trafficking or alcohol-fueled street crime — and that going after these shops is a waste of resources.

The manager of the Magic Mush store on Richmond Road and two locations of Fun Guyz, which claim to be Canada’s first brick-and-mortar psilocybin stores, says police have pressured landlords and demanded they close. But he says there’s no evidence psychedelic mushrooms are creating problems in Ottawa, and that it’s “wasteful” for police to spend taxpayer dollars trying to get rid of them.