Magic mushroom dispensary with Ontario-based owners opens in Winnipeg's Osborne Village

A new retail operation has added a psychedelic vibe to Osborne Village, one of the latest illegal magic mushroom dispensaries to open across Canada that's challenging existing rules on the substance.

Magic Mush claims to be Manitoba's first magic mushroom dispensary, according to Winnipeg-based lawyer Jamie Kagan, a partner at Thompson Dorfman Sweatman who's representing the Ontario-based owners of the business.

"We're hoping that similar to what happened in the cannabis industry, which started in what we'd like to call a grey market, we'll move to a legal market as the governments start to become more aware that there is an interest and there is a demand in it, especially in safe consumption" Kagan said.

Magic mushrooms typically contain psilocybin or psilocin, which are hallucinogens classified as Schedule III substances under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The production, sale and possession of them is illegal in Canada with some exemptions to allow people living with mental health disorders to access psilocybin legally through a health-care provider for therapeutic use.

"It's on the list of banned substances, correct," Kagan said.

Several other magic mushroom dispensaries have opened elsewhere including in Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Ont., and London, Ont. Kagan said the owners know they're taking a risk.

"Here, what they're hoping is the same response that they saw in Ottawa, Hamilton, Toronto, Vancouver which is a police presence to make sure the product is being sold safely, only to adults," Kagan said.

"It's not near a school, it's in a commercial area and if they're responsibly marketing a product that is natural that is addressing some very large mental health issues that the community will allow it as sort of a pilot project more than sort of an illegal operation that needs to be stopped."

He said the store's products are coming from Ontario, but Kagan wouldn't say exactly who's producing the mushrooms.

"I don't think they want to go through their supply chain," he said. "All of them are medically processed, clean. This is not street narcotics."

Officers with the Winnipeg Police Service's drug enforcement unit work with a federal inspector on dispensaries, a spokesperson said in an email. The WPS said officers are aware of Magic Mush but so far no tickets have been issued and no products have been seized.

The owners of Magic Mush, who previously opened stores in Ottawa and Toronto, officially launched their Winnipeg dispensary on May 13.

The store is only carrying a small amount of product to start in what Kagan described as an experimental phase for the owners of the shop. The front of the store features colourful magic mushroom artwork, but there's no business name listed on the exterior of the dispensary.

Customers walking into the store are greeted by a minimalist atmosphere with magic mushroom art on the walls, books about magic mushrooms and a mushroom menu displayed on two screens featuring options to buy both edibles and dried magic mushrooms.