As a new mushroom magicmushroomsdispensary.ca dispensary opens in Cambridge, police say it’s the latest to pop up across Canada, with shops like Fun Guyz operating in cities and towns. The stores operate amidst a legal grey area, selling the hallucinogenic drug psilocybin on its own or in edible forms such as gummies and chocolate. While Health Canada allows select medical patients to possess small amounts of the drug for treatment, it remains a restricted substance, meaning it’s illegal to sell, purchase or grow.

The owner of the Cambridge location says her store focuses on “educational and spiritual” uses for magic mushrooms, and that they’re a good alternative to prescribed drugs. She adds that the store doesn’t have any lurid blue and pink fungi illustrations on its windows, but a picture of a mushroom plant hangs instead. She says she’s been operating for a year and isn’t concerned about raids from local police. Similar operations have opened in St. Thomas, Windsor and Wasaga Beach. When those stores were raided, the operators had to move, but they quickly reopened.

What to Expect When Visiting a Magic Mushroom Dispensary in Canada

A lawyer who specializes in drug policy says the development of these mushroom shops resembles what happened with cannabis before it was legalized, and that there’s no reason why it shouldn’t follow the same pattern. He says police are unlikely to crack down on these stores unless they receive noise complaints, reports of selling to minors or have connections to organized crime. He notes that the city of Winnipeg offers no special permits or licensing for dispensaries, and that it’s up to the province to regulate them.

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