Microdosing mushrooms canada laws that keep magic mushrooms on the edge of legality, psilocybin stores have been popping up across Canada. These retailers sell capsules of fungus with a small dose of the psychoactive psychedelic, allowing consumers to microdose and experience effects like mental clarity without the hallucinations that come from a full trip.
But not all of these stores are getting busted by police. Some have been raided and arrests made — such as the Waterloo Region shop that was shut down by the police twice and reopened after each incident — but other locations are thriving. The largest psilocybin retailer in the country, Fun Guyz, has shops in 17 locations including two in Waterloo and six in Toronto.
Ordering Shrooms Online: What You Need to Know
Some of these retailers have also popped up online, selling products ranging from a single mushroom to a dozen. Some are part of a movement that advocates for psilocybin as a therapeutic substance, arguing that psychedelics can ease symptoms of mental illness and chronic pain. Others are trying to capitalize on the growing popularity of microdosing, which involves taking very low doses of drugs like psilocybin for mood boosts or increased productivity.
But some worry that the mushroom shops are a sign of a new kind of drug colonization similar to what happened when cannabis became legal. “With the push towards legalization, it seems to be agro-capitalist companies coming down here to take advantage of the lax enforcement and make money,” said Stacey Epperson, who operates a shop in a basement in Hamilton called Sacred Plant Medicine. She says the mushroom industry is being dominated by wealthy white people and not giving back to local communities.