Vancouver to reinstate business licence of illegal magic mushroom dispensary
— Vancouver city councillors have voted to reissue the business licence of a dispensary that has been selling mushrooms illegally but openly since February 2023 — a decision store operator Dana Larsen described as “cracking the door open” for regulation of psilocybins in the city.
The Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary at 247 W. Broadway had its licence suspended last May for “gross misconduct” for selling prohibited and controlled substances in defiance of federal laws and for misrepresenting itself on its licence application as a business selling party supplies and novelties.
At a business licence hearing Tuesday, a three-person panel approved a motion asking staff to reinstate the licence with terms that clarify the business is involved in education and advocacy of medicinal psychoactive substances.
“I’m very pleased with the decision,” said Larsen after the hearing. “We are now the only shop in Canada licensed to sell entheogens, mushrooms, peyote, LSD and DMT, but I really hope we are not the last.
“We opened the door now, just a crack, but it’s only going to get bigger.”
The city’s lawyer, Robert LeBlanc, told councillors Adriane Carr, Pete Fry and Mike Klassen at the hearing that the store’s intention has always been to sell illegal substances in contravention of federal law and the city’s licence bylaw.
He recommended the panel defer to the findings of chief licence inspector Sarah Hicks.
Green party councillors Carr and Fry rejected the findings of gross misconduct, saying they believe the licence-holder didn’t intend to deceive, but applied under the most suitable category available.
The use of psychedelic substances among Indigenous people and for spiritual or religious reasons is well-established, said Carr, adding she doesn’t believe they cause harm.
Some research suggests psilocybins can ease anxiety, depression, PTSD symptoms, and can help curb or eliminate addictions to opioids and other substances. Health Canada has approved about two dozen clinical trials, and has allowed personal exemptions for some patients to buy the drugs legally.
The drug remains a controlled substance, but that hasn’t stopped magic mushroom stores popping up across the country, including about 20 in Vancouver, by Larsen’s count.
The proliferation is similar to the tactics employed by the cannabis legalization movement, which saw illegal marijuana dispensaries operate storefronts before the drug was legalized by the federal government.
In 2015, the City of Vancouver allowed the legal sale of cannabis in the city before legalization, noted Carr.
“Our ability to be proactive, thoughtful, brave made a big difference and obviously ultimately resulted in the legalization of the sale of cannabis,” she said.
Fry, who supported Carr’s motion, said there is a trend toward the use of psychedelic therapy and medicines.
“Everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop to online resources, mushrooms are literally exploding everywhere, and we see that as a cultural trend,” he said, adding Carr’s motion should serve as a “catalyst” for a new licensing framework similar to how the city dealt with medical marijuana.
ABC Vancouver Coun. Klassen disagreed, saying advocacy isn’t the purview of the business licence hearing.
In a statement, Mayor Ken Sim said he was “extremely disappointed” by Carr and Fry’s decision to use their role at the hearing to “engage in activism on matters” beyond the city’s jurisdiction.
“The sale of psilocybin products (hallucinogenic mushrooms) is not permitted by the federal government,” he said. “All business licence-holders are obligated to adhere to both federal and provincial laws in addition to municipal regulations.”