Senior with terminal cancer calls for access to magic mushrooms after city shop raided

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This article was published 23/05/2023 (1231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Janis Hughes prefers to use the word “medicine” rather than “drug” while discussing her use of magic mushrooms and advocacy work since being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The Winnipeg woman, who has Stage 4 breast cancer, has had two unauthorized sessions of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy to address depression and anxiety.

“I am no longer obsessed with the thought that I am going to die,” Hughes, 66, said Tuesday. “I am living. I am focused on other people, not myself.”

Earlier this year, she travelled to Ottawa to lobby MPs to expand access to psychedelic drugs as medical treatments.

Psilocybin and psilocin, the active chemical compounds in magic mushrooms, are illegal in Canada.

It is with great interest Hughes has watched the ongoing saga of a magic mushroom dispensary in Osborne Village that claimed to be Manitoba’s first.

Magic Mush, located on Osborne Street near River Avenue, was raided by police May 19. Items were seized by officers.

A man and a woman are facing charges related to possession of illegal drugs for the purpose of trafficking, according to police.

The shop was closed when a Free Press reporter visited Tuesday.

Jamie Kagan, a lawyer for the store’s Ontario-based owners, previously told the Free Press they would speak Tuesday to decide their next steps.

He had said the response from police was surprising and the raid unnecessary, considering the business was not trying to hide its operations.

On Sunday, a post on Magic Mush’s Instagram account encouraged customers to share their positive experiences with the shop or its products.

“Please join the fight!” the post stated.

Hughes believes it’s only a matter of time before magic mushrooms are legalized, regulated and sold in retail stores, like cannabis is now after being in a so-called grey market before being legalized.

She expected a store to open in Winnipeg eventually, despite psilocybin and psilocin being illegal under the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

“A part of me is glad to see it happen,” she said of Magic Mush’s opening. “It’s one more prong in the movement to overturn legislation.”

Similar stores had already opened in Toronto and Vancouver.

Several people who were approached by the Free Press near or while walking past Magic Mush said they had no problem with its presence.

Some were not aware a magic mushroom dispensary had opened.

Meena Choy, who visited the shop, said its mushroom packages had information about the positives, negatives and duration of the high.

“It’s kind of just like weed. I don’t think there’s really any harm in having it,” Choy, 24, said. “There are a lot of worse drugs in the area.”

She is in favour of magic mushrooms being sold in retail stores like cannabis.

Billy Diamond, 41, said he wasn’t aware of Magic Mush, and it doesn’t matter to him if magic mushrooms are one day regulated and sold for non-medical use.

“I think I’m OK either way, but, yes, I don’t see a problem with it,” he said.

Calyssa Beau, 31, would be supportive if there are rules and restrictions similar to Manitoba’s cannabis laws, and education for buyers.

“As long as it’s done responsibly,” she said, noting she didn’t know about the dispensary in Osborne Village until she was informed by a reporter.

It is illegal to produce, sell or possess magic mushrooms in Canada.

Health Canada exemptions allow limited therapeutic use of psilocybin for mental health conditions.

Hughes’s application for an exemption was rejected during her early attempts to receive psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for what she described as “end-of-life distress.”

Two unauthorized sessions cost a total of almost $2,500, she said.

Hughes is a plaintiff in a Charter challenge which seeks to expand medical access to psilocybin.

On its website, Health Canada said there are no approved therapeutic products containing psilocybin.

It said initial clinical trials have shown promising results, but the evidence is limited.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching