Worker at magic mushroom dispensary doesn’t deserve criminal record: lawyer
A man who took on a job at a magic mushroom dispensary out of “desperation” should not receive a criminal record, his lawyer argued in court Thursday.
Philip Garcia appeared in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines and pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.
“He took this job out of desperation,” lawyer Jack Lloyd told Judge Andrew Brown in advocating for a discharge for his client.
“He may have been misled about the legality of it. He was not profiting from it.”
The federal prosecutor agreed the defendant was not the “principal trafficker,” but said that should not be viewed as an excuse to break the law.
“It should have been apparent that Mr. Garcia was knowingly facilitating the trafficking of controlled substances, regardless of where he falls on the chain of command,” Sanvir Nijjar said.
The judge is expected to deliver his sentence later this month.
Garcia was arrested in March 2023 after the Niagara Regional Police street crime unit executed a warrant at Fun Guyz on St. Paul Street in St. Catharines.
The 36-year-old, who has no criminal record, was working at the store at the time.
Police seized more than 400 grams of psilocybin mushrooms as well as various products containing psilocybin, including 88 chocolate bars, 68 jars of spreadable chocolate, 25 packages of gummies, 13 bags of tea and six bags of hot chocolate.
Also seized was more than 2,500 “micro dose” capsules of psilocybin.
The seized products had an estimated street value of more than $15,000.
Magic mushrooms contain hallucinogens, usually psilocybin, and it is illegal to produce, sell or possess in Canada.
“This is a storefront with the name Fun Guyz that was masquerading as a legally-operating business,” the Crown said.
According to Health Canada, there is increasing interest in purported therapeutic uses of magic mushrooms and of psilocybin. While some initial clinical trials have shown promising results, the evidence is currently limited.
According to Health Canada, there are no approved therapeutic products containing psilocybin in Canada or elsewhere.
Niagara police raided the same downtown dispensary a second time in August 2023.
In that case, a 31-year-old woman was arrested and more than $21,000 in products was seized. That case remains before the courts.
According to its website, Fun Guyz has more than a dozen locations in Ontario and Quebec.
Many of the stores in the chain have been raided by police multiple times.