VICTORIA – canada shroom pickers are out and about, harvesting the fruit of the mushroom forest for the first time in years without fear of arrest. A court ruling last year overturned a 1979 conviction that 86 people across Canada had received for possessing Psilocybe semilanceat, known as Liberty Cap mushrooms. That conviction was based on the theory that since the mushrooms were being sold for consumption, they constituted possession of a restricted drug and could result in a criminal charge.

The federal government has made it legal to grow, sell and take the hallucinogen psilocybin only by being part of a research study or through Health Canada’s Section 56 exemption with the support of a doctor. Until 2024 when psilocybin becomes legal for medical use, the gray market is booming with psychedelic dispensaries popping up in urban centres across the country.

From Spores to Shelves: Navigating the Mushroom Market in Toronto

Vancouver entrepreneur Paul Larsen says he’s confident that his new Magic Mush store will be popular among people seeking a safe, legal source of the drug. He’s no stranger to pushing boundaries: he ran illegal marijuana dispensaries in the past, and gave out five million cannabis seeds as part of a campaign in 2016.

While he hasn’t heard of any incidents of pickers becoming sick from bad trips or property damage, he knows that there are risks when people take the wrong varieties of mushrooms or eat too many. The mushroom store hopes to minimize those risks by only selling the safest kinds of mushrooms and offering a service that includes education, testing and guidance for customers on how to prepare and have a good trip.