I was shocked at how prominently the bright yellow dispensary storefront stood out in a busy street. The store was not trying to sell the illicit drugs discretely.
Though federal law prohibits the sale of psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called “magic” mushrooms,” dispensaries hope to spur legalization by selling it openly.
Vancouver stores sold cannabis years before the country legalized marijuana, and store owners recently told the Vancouver Sun they’d like to replicate the process for magic mushrooms.
There is widespread support from lawmakers, too. British Columbia, the Canadian province where Vancouver is located, has filed an application to the federal government, asking to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of all drugs.
South of the border, Oregon is on track to become the first US state to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic use starting in 2023. Denver, the capital of Colorado, became the first city to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms in 2019, and the Californian city of Oakland followed suit shortly after.
Read more:I visited a ‘magic’ mushroom dispensary in Canada, where the drug is illegal but