In a rare expression of concern over illicit drug use in the Lower Mainland, the federal government has voiced concern over licensed storefronts selling dope in public.This time it’s not heroin or fentanyl, but rather magic mushrooms that are cause for concern on city streets. And the Green Party is to blame.That’s because Health Canada has sent a letter to city council over concerns that two Green Party members voted to overturn a ruling of the city’s chief licence inspector to suspend the business licence of a magic mushroom dispensary.In a 2-1 decision two Green Party councillors overturned a ruling of the city’s chief licence inspector to suspend the business licence of a magic mushroom dispensary and allow it to keep operating..“Even holders of a controlled substances dealer’s licence cannot sell psilocybin to the general public. Health Canada maintains the position that illegally operating storefronts pose a risk to the health and safety of Canadians.”.The panel heard that the store had applied for a licence as a retailer of “gifts and novelties,” and was granted a business licence Jauuary 1, 2023.In March of that year, a city property-use inspector visited the business and reported that illegal drugs, as defined under the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, were being sold including LSD, peyote, DMT, coca and kratom. In November 2023, police executed search warrants at the dispensary and seized a total of 27 kilograms of psilocybin, 2.2 kilograms of coca leaf, 2.7 kilograms of LSD and one kilogram of DMT — a hallucinogen.No charges were laid.The dispensary is reportedly located a couple of blocks from city hall and a short walk from the Vancouver Police Department’s Cambie Street precinct..Although exemptions exist in BC for people who possess and consume drugs for personal use, it is illegal to traffic psilocybin and other psychedelic drugs unless an exemption from Health Canada has been obtained, for example, for a clinical trial.In this case, Health Canada took exemption on the grounds that psilocybin — as opposed to fentanyl — is classified as a restricted drug under part J of the Food and Drug Regulations, meaning it cannot be sold to the general public.“Even holders of a controlled substances dealer’s licence cannot sell psilocybin to the general public,” the letter says. “Health Canada maintains the position that illegally operating storefronts pose a risk to the health and safety of Canadians.”.The letter was mentioned by city councillors at a council meeting, where two members of the Green Party introduced a motion to have the city consider regulating business licences for retailers of psilocybin, peyote, mescaline, auyahuasca and kratom.The councillors argued that the city had set up a retail framework in 2015 to regulate marijuana before cannabis was made legal six years later by the federal government.“Through a regulatory framework, we can prevent access to children and young people, we can have standards of retail that can inform how they're displayed, what kind of signage, the visibility, a location of retail outlets,” they said. “This regulatory framework is not about legalizing mushrooms or entheogens. Rather, it's just creating a regulatory framework for how businesses operate.”At the meeting witnesses told council that psilocybin, LSD and mescaline “do not endanger lives, they save lives.”“I have firsthand seen the substances that we provide alleviate the symptoms of depression, anxiety, trauma, years of dependence on antidepressants, nicotine addiction, alcoholism and toxic marriage. Some of my friends would have ended their lives — they would not be here with us — if it wasn't for the kind of work that we provide at the mushroom dispensaries.”
In a rare expression of concern over illicit drug use in the Lower Mainland, the federal government has voiced concern over licensed storefronts selling dope in public.This time it’s not heroin or fentanyl, but rather magic mushrooms that are cause for concern on city streets. And the Green Party is to blame.That’s because Health Canada has sent a letter to city council over concerns that two Green Party members voted to overturn a ruling of the city’s chief licence inspector to suspend the business licence of a magic mushroom dispensary.In a 2-1 decision two Green Party councillors overturned a ruling of the city’s chief licence inspector to suspend the business licence of a magic mushroom dispensary and allow it to keep operating..“Even holders of a controlled substances dealer’s licence cannot sell psilocybin to the general public. Health Canada maintains the position that illegally operating storefronts pose a risk to the health and safety of Canadians.”.The panel heard that the store had applied for a licence as a retailer of “gifts and novelties,” and was granted a business licence Jauuary 1, 2023.In March of that year, a city property-use inspector visited the business and reported that illegal drugs, as defined under the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, were being sold including LSD, peyote, DMT, coca and kratom. In November 2023, police executed search warrants at the dispensary and seized a total of 27 kilograms of psilocybin, 2.2 kilograms of coca leaf, 2.7 kilograms of LSD and one kilogram of DMT — a hallucinogen.No charges were laid.The dispensary is reportedly located a couple of blocks from city hall and a short walk from the Vancouver Police Department’s Cambie Street precinct..Although exemptions exist in BC for people who possess and consume drugs for personal use, it is illegal to traffic psilocybin and other psychedelic drugs unless an exemption from Health Canada has been obtained, for example, for a clinical trial.In this case, Health Canada took exemption on the grounds that psilocybin — as opposed to fentanyl — is classified as a restricted drug under part J of the Food and Drug Regulations, meaning it cannot be sold to the general public.“Even holders of a controlled substances dealer’s licence cannot sell psilocybin to the general public,” the letter says. “Health Canada maintains the position that illegally operating storefronts pose a risk to the health and safety of Canadians.”.The letter was mentioned by city councillors at a council meeting, where two members of the Green Party introduced a motion to have the city consider regulating business licences for retailers of psilocybin, peyote, mescaline, auyahuasca and kratom.The councillors argued that the city had set up a retail framework in 2015 to regulate marijuana before cannabis was made legal six years later by the federal government.“Through a regulatory framework, we can prevent access to children and young people, we can have standards of retail that can inform how they're displayed, what kind of signage, the visibility, a location of retail outlets,” they said. “This regulatory framework is not about legalizing mushrooms or entheogens. Rather, it's just creating a regulatory framework for how businesses operate.”At the meeting witnesses told council that psilocybin, LSD and mescaline “do not endanger lives, they save lives.”“I have firsthand seen the substances that we provide alleviate the symptoms of depression, anxiety, trauma, years of dependence on antidepressants, nicotine addiction, alcoholism and toxic marriage. Some of my friends would have ended their lives — they would not be here with us — if it wasn't for the kind of work that we provide at the mushroom dispensaries.”
