In Canada, where cannabis first trod, a new mushroom industry is taking shape. Thanks to rising demand, evolving research and small but significant shifts in federal drug policy, stores peddling magic mushrooms, also known as psilocybin, are popping up across the country.

In 2022, Thomas Hartle became one of the country’s first people to be granted a federal exemption to treat his terminal cancer with psilocybin — the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. The approval came directly from then-health minister Patty Hajdu. Hartle could not purchase or consume the drugs, but he could have his doctor administer them in therapy sessions. Learn more shroomscanada.cc

Since then, he’s opened a psychedelic marketplace in downtown Vancouver called Shrooms Canada. It’s a bustling space, with a spectacular selection of the drug. He sells everything from caramel-capped Gold Emperors to phallic-shaped Penis Envy, from Blue Meanie toadstools to psilocybin Rice Krispie bars.

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His customers are mostly people seeking a different kind of experience than they get from cannabis. They’re interested in healing, self-exploration and spiritual growth. And they’re finding what many medical professionals believe: that psilocybin can be used as medicine.

Although psilocybin is still illegal, police have turned a blind eye to stores like Shrooms Canada. The owners of such shops say they’re operating within the law. But a Toronto-based lawyer who specializes in drug policy says that can be misleading. He notes that police have discretion over whether to pursue any given case, and may have more pressing issues to deal with.