BC Court Rules Against Vancouver in Dispute Over Shop’s Sale of Psychedelics

The sale, distribution, and possession of so-called magic mushrooms—which contain the hallucinogen psilocybin—are illegal in Canada, but there has been little uniformity in how authorities deal with dispensaries selling them. Moha El-Jaw/Shutterstock

A B.C. judge has ruled the City of Vancouver failed to prove that a shop advertising psychedelic mushrooms for sale sold illegal products, but found the store guilty of ignoring a municipal order to stop operating as a mushroom dispensary.

The case centres around a business raided by police in 2023 for selling illegal drugs, a federal offence. The store received an order from the city to shut down but chose to remain open, sparking the court challenge and highlighting a grey area in bylaw enforcement of the dispensaries.

Judge Aamna Asfar said that while it was possible the shop, Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary, sold mushrooms, the city failed to meet the standard of proof needed by the court to establish the business sold products containing psilocybin—the psychoactive compound found in magic mushrooms.

“It is possible that the mushrooms being sold included illicit substances like psilocybin or psilocin; it is even likely. However, a possibility or a probability does not meet the standard of proof,” she wrote in her July 25 decision. 

The court said that there was no evidence a city inspector had “purchased, tried or seized any of the products and had them tested to confirm their contents.”

“I find that the City has not established that the business was operating in the absence of a subsisting licence and therefore I find the defendants not guilty.”

The defendants argued that the business has a licence and was complying with the rules of that licence to sell retail items such as clothing and books. They said the sale of mushrooms counts as retail sales and doesn’t require a new development permit.

The city argued there is no licence category for a mushroom dispensary because selling products containing psilocybin is prohibited under federal law. It said it doesn’t have to prove there was psilocybin in the products, only that the store offered psilocybin for sale.

A spokesperson with the city told The Epoch Times in an email that city officials cannot comment further on the case because it is still before the courts.

“Though the court has delivered the reasons for judgment, a sentencing date has not yet been set. Therefore, the case is still considered ongoing and as a result, the City is not able to provide comment at this time,” the email said.

City Probe

The shop, located at 651 East Hastings Street in the city’s Downtown Eastside, was investigated on Feb. 28, 2022, by property use inspector Alvin Leung.

At the time, Leung said he saw a large sign outside the shop that read “mushroom dispensary, psychedelics, coca leaf, kratom, peyote, LSD, DMT,” according to the court record.

He said he also saw a sandwich board outside the shop that read “mushroom dispensary, peyote, kratom, microdoses, coca café, coca max tea, sandwiches, coffee, posters and books.”

Leung took photos of the sign, which were submitted to the court for evidence.

Inside the shop, Leung said he saw two counters. One of the counters had signs that read “medicinal mushroom dispensary” and another sign that said “no minors.”

The court documents note that he also saw a glass case next to that counter with products in plastic bags with weights and prices. Bottles in the case read “LSD,” “LSD micro dose bottles,” and “NN-DMT powder.”

He estimated 90 to 95 percent of the shop was related to mushrooms, and the remainder was dedicated to the sale of food and drinks.

“There is no evidence that he spoke to any customers. He did not see any sales transactions between the people in the premises,” Asfar said.

Leung took a document from the shop that said it was a membership application for the medicinal mushroom dispensary. Photos of the form were provided to the court.

“The application included check boxes where an applicant must attest that they are aware of the risks involved with using psychoactive substances, that the psychoactive substances will be used in a safe and responsible manner, that the applicant will not drive or carry out various other activities while impaired by psychoactive substances, that the substances will be kept away from children and pets and that the applicant has shown identification proving they are over the age of 19,” the court document said.

Asfar said that Leung concluded the business was operating an illegal mushroom dispensary, but he did not buy anything from the shop or seize any of the products to have them tested for psilocybin.

Rather, as a result of the visit, the city’s chief licence inspector issued orders on March 8, 2022, that the shop was to stop operating as a mushroom dispensary and remove all materials related to the dispensary within 14 days. The order also noted that if the shop did not comply, the city would take the matter to court.

Guilty Verdict

Leung visited the shop again on March 30, 2022, and said “and the business continued to operate in the same fashion” as on Feb. 28, 2022, according to the court documents. He also visited the store again after charges were laid in February 2023 and the business appeared to be operating in the same manner as the year prior. He took photos of the shop during the visit and they were provided to the court.

It was this evidence that led to one guilty verdict against the shop.

“The evidence clearly establishes that operations continued in defiance of the orders,” Asfar wrote in the decision. “A reasonable and lawful course of action is not to simply ignore the orders and continue operations because you disagree with the orders. It is analogous to receiving a driving prohibition, disagreeing with it, and continuing to drive without challenging the prohibition through proper channels and having your licence reinstated.”

In May 2023, the shop had its licence suspended for selling illegal substances. However, it continued to operate and was the target of a police raid in November 2023, in addition to its other storefronts on Broadway and Granville Street.

Two Green Party Vancouver City councillors re-instated the business’s licence during a special meeting on March 5, 2024.

One of the councillors, Pete Fry, said the owner of the shop had not been technically convicted at that time. He also noted that there were a lot of businesses in Vancouver selling mushrooms and compared the decision to re-licence the shop to the situation in 2015, when the city allowed cannabis stores to operate.

The other councillor who voted to allow the business to continue, Adriane Carr, said in a social media post her decision was about supporting “safe” supply over “street supply.”

Mayor Ken Sim said he was disappointed in the councillors’ decision, saying the assessment made by the city’s inspector to suspend the shop’s licence was “appropriate.”