Today, in this article, I will provide a detailed discussion on “is magic mushroom legal in Canada or not?” In short, I will discuss the legality of magic mushrooms in Canada.
First of all, you will look at what magic mushrooms are and what role they play in our daily life? Later on, I will explain the Canadian rules and regulations about using magic mushrooms in their region. Let’s start the article.
What Exactly is Magic Mushroom?
Magic mushrooms are also known as shrooms or psilocybin mushrooms. They are basically informal groups of fungi. They contain psilocybin that usually turns into psilocin. Shrooms are cultivated mushrooms having psilocybin. It naturally has hallucinogenic and psychoactive compounds.
According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHS) Administrations, psilocybin is commonly known as psychedelics. Magic mushrooms have multiple names famous in the market. They include golden tops, philosopher’s stones, liberty caps, mushies, shrooms, blue meanies, agaric, Amani, and liberties.
Magic mushrooms cause yawning, nervousness, nausea, panic, psychosis, relaxation, paranoia, and introspective experience.
Is Magic Mushroom Legal in Canada?
The use of magic mushrooms in normal life has always been controversial across the globe. Some parts of the world declare it legal for personal use, whereas some regions have clearly stated that their use is illegal in normal life to view their side effects. They even punish if someone is caught with the magic mushroom. The people in such areas use magic mushrooms at their own risk.
Health Minister Remarks on Magic Mushroom Legal in Canada
Is magic mushroom legal in Canada is a big debate to discuss on. In a recent interview, Canada’s health officials have stated that health professionals can use shrooms for treating the increasing number of patients. This statement was the first-ever public announcement by Hajdu, the health minister of Canada. The request to use psilocybin was granted to the patients in end-of-life care.
The health minister said that she is pleased to see that Health Canada has granted exemptions to multiple health professionals who were willing to consume and possess magic mushrooms. This move was found to be controversial for some authorities but not for all.
The doctors who prescribed this therapy were curious about how the patients will feel and how to use magic mushrooms in the best way to treat struggling patients.
Granting Exemptions on Magic Mushroom in Canada
The health minister, Hajdu, has the power of granting exemptions that can provide individuals with immunity from the Canadian laws against different controlled substances. This power has attracted multiple advocates, and they were in favor of getting wider approval to use entheogenic substances legally for religious and therapeutic purposes.
For end-of-life care, the request from four cancer patients was approved by Health Canada, and they were legally able to use shrooms in their treatment. In few months, regulators were succeeded in getting more than a dozen exemptions.
Health Canada approved an application sent by non-terminal patients to use psilocybin mushrooms to diagnose his trauma. According to Hajdu, this was an exciting step for the health professional who considers this a potential therapy.
TheraPsil group advocated for legal access towards psilocybin therapy. This group has supported over twelve applications sent by the patients in end-of-life care. It also helped the trauma patients to get secure approval. The chief executive officer of the group, Mr. Spencer Hawkswell thanked the health minister for the exemption to treat the patients better. He also added that doctors’ training is necessary to meet the demands of the patients.
TheraPsil observed that seventeen health professionals are provided with the exemptions, and the group has planned to raise $250,000 to arrange a mega training program for them. Hawkswell said, “it is necessary to ensure high-quality training for the therapists”. Moreover, he said that it would be highly beneficial if the therapists have themselves gone through psychedelic therapy.
Hajdu said that we need more strong research studies and clinical trials before allowing the public to use magic mushrooms in their normal life. In recent years, advocates and other officials have disagreed over wide access to psychedelics. Thousands of residents have signed a petition to decriminalize the personal use of shrooms. Three different government officials replied that there is no immediate need to change their law on drugs.
A statement was passed through Hajdu’s office that the psychedelic drugs must be passed through the Canadian drug review process. They must receive an authorization letter from Health Canada before changing the drug’s law.
Canadian Laws on Magic Mushroom Legality in Canada
The existing drug laws already provide a clear mechanism for accessing magic mushrooms for scientific and medical purposes or for other reasons that are not in the public interest, e.g., for religious purposes. The statement was released that no immediate amendment is required in current rules or legislation.
Good News for People with Depression on Magic Mushrooms Legal in Canada
Nowadays, Canada’s government has allowed patients who are not terminally ill to use magic mushrooms legally. They have decided to give access to psilocybin mushrooms for various therapeutic reasons.
An exemption was granted to a 67 years old woman (Mona Strelaeff) in Victoria. She was suffering from trauma, and she was allowed by the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) to use magic mushrooms to treat her disease. She wrote an email to VICE world news that she has suffered from depression and anxiety for several years. According to her, when she was gone through psilocybin therapy, she went deep into her childhood and was thinking about the things that happened to her when she was a young girl.
The legality of Magic Mushroom in Canada
Psilocybin is an active element found in magic mushrooms. It is illegal to produce, consume and sell in the Canadian region. It is only allowed for the approved research concerns. Last summer, the patients with terminal illnesses were allowed by Health Canada to use psilocybin mushrooms.
The chief executive officer of TherPsil told two different reasons to use psilocybin to VICE World news. The first reason was that you have a complete right to stay, live and die in Canada. So, you must have a right to consume psilocybin mushrooms.
The second reason he mentioned was “the patients did not have the time to wait.” He identified a few Canadian patients who were dying due to severe diseases. They have a few weeks or months to live for. He wanted to help them out.
While talking to VICE World news, Strelaeff told them that she was gone through extreme depression and anxiety when she was diagnosed with breast cancer 12 years ago. Some of the trauma was due to her repressed childhood material, and some were due to her breast cancer.
Treating Depression with Magic Mushroom
It is proved by the clinical research studies carried out recently that magic mushrooms show promise to treat anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and depression. In January 2021, TheraPsil intends to launch the first and complete legal training program to easily train therapists and doctors to practice psychedelic therapy. This step demands a huge investment from different pharmaceutical organizations, e.g., Compass.
Hawkswell added that TheraPsil would maintain its non-profit status, and it will be able to offer the treatment within the universal health care system of Canada. There is no approved therapeutic product having psilocybin in Canada these days.
First Psychedelic Canadian Company for Harvesting Magic Mushroom Legally
Numinus has become the first-ever psychedelic company in Canada who harvested magic mushrooms legally since the 1970s. It is a healthcare company that focuses on product development and research ad it is based in Vancouver. In October 2020, Numinus announced the first harvest of magic mushrooms at its licensed facility, where it runs a testing and research laboratory.
Numinus is working on solutions and formulations that are intended to use in burgeoning psychedelic therapy. In return, Health Canada has provided the company with the license for growing and extracting shrooms in June 2020. This license was issued under the Controlled Drugs ad Substances Act that allowed the company to store, import, and distribute psilocin, 3-4 Methylene Dioxy Methamphet Amine (MDMA), mescaline, Disease-Modifying Therapies (DMT), and psilocybin.
According to chief executive officer Payton Nyquvest, it could be a crucial step in a growing movement by private and public organizations in Canada. It could also play a key role in supporting research on psychedelic substances that will benefit people who have a mental illness, end-of-life anxiety, substance use, and many more. According to Nyquvest, granting an exemption to four terminally ill Canadian patients is a huge step forward towards providing access to magic mushrooms to treat patients.
The chief operating officer of the company, Michael Tan, said that the fruiting bodies harvested in a first flush would surely be used to develop extracts of non-synthetic mushrooms. Developing a biological-based psilocybin product was their only aspiration. They wanted to develop this kind of product so that it can be used in clinical trials.
Conclusion
McKenna said, for thousands of years, mushrooms have been continuously used in traditional medicines. Natural mushrooms are cost-effective compared to synthetic mushrooms, and it should be an important consideration while ensuring people’s accessibility to this medicine.
In conclusion, it can be seen that the personal use of magic mushrooms is completely banned in Canada. However, Canadian officials allow health care professionals to use magic mushrooms to treat patients suffering from various diseases, e.g., depression, anxiety, mental illness, trauma, and many others. Moreover, the production, import, and consumption of shrooms are allowed for medical and research purposes. If someone wants to consume magic mushrooms for personal use in Canada, he or she can do it at his/her own risk.
Here are all from the article “is magic mushroom legal in Canada?” I hope you have enjoyed the content, and now, you are well aware of the Canadian laws on the legality of magic mushrooms. Stay tuned for more updates. There is a lot more to come. Take care. Thank You!