Magic mushroom store opens up in Windsor amid push for legalization

A magic mushroom store has opened up on Ouellette Avenue in Windsor, Ont., by a company that says it's setting up psilocybin shops as part of a fight for legalization.

"We're just providing access to psilocybin in a safe manner, in a clean manner. At the end of the day, if people want to buy magic mushrooms, they will go and find it off the street," said a co-owner of Fun Guyz, who said his name was Edgars Gorbans.

Windsor councillor Renaldo Agostino, who represents the downtown area, said he spotted the shop when walking around. At the time he spoke with CBC, he was looking into whether it was operating legally.

"I'm not here or there when it comes to what the store's purpose is, I just want to make sure that the regulations are in place, that the safety protocols are laid in place."

The Windsor Police Service said in a statement to CBC Windsor that it supports measures that improve community safety and ensure "the health and wellbeing of people who use drugs."

"However, we are staunchly committed to enforcing current laws around illegal narcotics and will ensure that individuals who illegally possess or traffic in these substances are held criminally accountable," read the email statement.

Though the production, sale and possession of magic mushrooms are illegal in Canada and police have arrested store operators, similar shops are popping up elsewhere in Ontario and across the country. 

FunGuyz opened its 11th location on Thursday at 395 Ouellette Avenue, and it's been going "great," according to Gorbans.

"They [customers] love that they can come in and speak to someone before they purchase and be guided by someone to do psilocybin," he said.

Psilocybin is the psychoactive substance in magic mushrooms.

Gorbans said most of the people coming into the store are those looking to microdose — taking small amounts of a drug at a time — and treat things like anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, though no psilocybin products are currently approved for medical use. 

The store does not recommend people use the product for recreational use, he added.

"We're more trying to be basically trying to push people to use them for medical reasons. But obviously, we can't control someone [who] takes more than the microdose amounts available."

A risky business

The newly opened store has attracted the curious eyes of people in the community.

"I've had a few calls from some constituents," said Agostino.

"It's a curiosity thing, people are just not sure exactly what it is."

Agostino said when he went into the store, workers were very candid about the business.

"They didn't try to hide a thing and it kind of looks like they're selling small coffee bags of mushrooms, you know, well-packaged, clean," he said.

According to Gorbans, the company has also dealt with police raids where their product is seized. However, he adds they immediately reopen and challenge every charge they're handed.

He said they continue to work on the business in order to fight to have magic mushrooms legalized.

Research shows 'promising' results, but too early for final verdict: experts

Gorbans said customer testimonies have been positive. Health Canada says despite trials having shown "promising" results, there are no approved therapeutic products that include psilocybin.

Dr. Dominique Morisano, a clinical psychologist and adjunct professor at the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa, also noted potential in taking psychedelics. 

She said evidence hasn't shown that psilocybin really work in any lasting way in such small doses, however, and there appears to be a placebo effect.

Still, Morisano, who also studies and provides psychedelic-assisted therapy in a research context, sees potential because larger doses have made a difference for some of her clients.

"We just don't know enough yet… I think we need to be studying these things in big populations," she said.

FunGuyz makes customers sign waivers when purchasing, and Gorbans says they don't sell to anyone under 19.

For those who don't approve of the storefront, Gorbans asks they take some time to research.

"We're not out here selling to kids, you know, we're not bothering anyone, we open up doors open to the public. That's all," he said.