Taking a micro-quantity of psilocybin as a mood booster is becoming a daily routine for more and more Canadians — and drawing the attention of entrepreneurs and scientists.
Psilocybin is the psychoactive substance in magic mushrooms, and though it is illegal, the online market for this substance is growing.
Scientific interest in psilocybin is also increasing — researchers are looking at its use as a treatment for depression.
“There is a re-emergence of interest and permission to start studying psychedelics,” said Norman Farb, associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga.
“There is a huge amount of private sector interest in psychedelic therapies as the next big investment opportunity in the health sector,” he said.
WATCH | More Canadians seem interested in taking magic mushrooms, even though they’re illegal:
The mental health expert will launch a controlled study over the next few months on nearly 100 people, who will be followed for five weeks.
The study will examine the effects of microdoses of psilocybin in people with low-grade anxiety and depression as well as in people with persistent depressive disorder.
The project is the first of its kind in Canada. Farb and his team received the Health Canada approval late December.
Why this trend?
Microdosing capsules contain 50 to 300 milligrams of magic mushroom powder. They also contain the psychoactive ingredient: psilocybin. A full dose, 10 times that, is when the more commonly known psychedelic effects set in.
Between 2018 and 2020, articles from the New York Times and Forbes magazine introduced microdosing to the general public. Previously, the word was used only by Silicon Valley insiders and psychedelic aficionados.
On social networks, discussions on the subject have never been so lively. The number of forum subscribers on this topic in Reddit has increased sevenfold since 2018.
More and more Canadians are interested in this illegal practice. Google searches with the keywords “microdosing” and “shrooms” (mushrooms) doubled in one year.
“This is not an underground phenomenon anymore. There are businesses that make a living out of microdosing, and obviously that changes the game a little bit,” said Balázs Szigeti, professor at Imperial College London, one of the most renowned research centres in the field.
Health Canada says the national Drug Analysis Service (DAS), which operates laboratories across Canada to analyze suspected illegal drugs seized by law enforcement agencies, has found more magic mushroom compounds than ever before.
Between 2017 and 2021, the number has doubled nationally. The top three provinces in terms of drug seizures containing psilocin and psilocybin are Ontario, Quebec and…
Read more:Magic mushrooms, psilocybin and microdosing: Growing trend draws e-vendors,