Canada’s first legal crop of magic mushrooms was harvested this week.
British Columbia based bioscience company Numinus received a Controlled Drugs and Substances Dealer’s license from Health Canada this year. The license allows them to “test, possess, buy and sell MDMA, psilocybin, psilocin, DMT and mescaline,” according to their website. Numinus aspires to be among the first to offer legal psilocybin therapy clinics, according to Michael Tan, Chief Operating Officer.
In the wake of their harvest, Numinus plans to apply for an amendment to their CDSD license. Numinus hopes Health Canada will extend the license permissions to allow the sale of fruiting fungal bodies and their extract for clinical research trials.
In Canada, support for psilocybin-based therapies is growing rapidly as clinical studies continue to indicate the compound’s potential success in the treatment of depression, anxiety, substance abuse disorders, and other mental illnesses. For instance, Four terminally-ill cancer patients were granted legal exemption for the use of psychedelics in their treatment regimen in August of this year.
Shrooms for Uncle Sam
America has been making progress towards legal magic mushrooms as well. For example, last month the city council of Ann Arbor, MI unanimously voted to decriminalize all psychedelic plants. This, of course, includes Psilocybe, the fungal family colloquially known as “magic mushrooms.”
The progressive policy change followed years of advocacy by grassroots organizations. Ann Arbor follows in the footsteps of cities like Oakland and Santa Cruz, as well as the entire state of Colorado, which all decriminalized psilocybin within the last year. Oregon legislatures recently introduced Measure 109 which, if successful, would allow for the therapeutic use of psilocybin, albeit with certain limitations. Patients would have to take the mushrooms at approved clinics and have to undergo psychiatric assessments and briefings both before and after use.
While there won’t be recreational ‘Shroom Shops any time soon, visionary companies like Numinus are paving the way one fruiting body at a time.
