Because of this, the police are raiding psychedelic mushroom stores in major cities
This year, the legalization of psychedelics pushed even further into the American mainstream. Colorado voted to legalize therapeutic psilocybin while Oregon prepared to launch its own program. Investors poured millions of dollars into the burgeoning psychedelics industry, and lawmakers from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) called on Congress to reform our psychedelics laws.
But in the past four weeks, police have raided and shut down stores selling psychedelic mushrooms in three North American cities.
On November 12, Canadian police raided Shroomyz, a psychedelic mushroom store in Toronto.
In early December, San Francisco police blew up a mushroom store in Haight-Ashbury. A spokesman for the SFPD confirmed that “a large quantity of suspected narcotics was seized”. The store owner was accused of violating the California Health & Safety Code.
And last week, in Portland, OR, police raided the Shroom House, a magic mushroom store that opened in late October in one of the city’s prime business districts.
As psychedelics enter the legal mainstream, you might be wondering why these police arrests are happening?
It boils down to this: Commercial entrepreneurs are ahead of the law. In some of the most progressive cities in the US and Canada, it may be legal to possess psychedelic substances – but it’s not yet legal to sell them.
Portland’s Shroom House offers a cautionary tale
The Shroom House opened its doors on October 24th with minimal fanfare at the busy intersection of West Burnside Street and 16th Avenue. The store’s location was guaranteed to draw attention; Portland’s world-renowned bookstore, Powell’s City of Books, is just a few blocks east, as is the Crystal Ballroom, a popular music venue.
In fact, local news outlets began to take notice. A Willamette Week writer strolled in and left with a healthy dose of the infamous psilocybin strain, Penis Envy. Thanks in part to media attention, the news spread quickly. Wait times soon reached up to five hours as psychedelics seekers queued under the store’s mushroom sign to purchase outdoor mushrooms.
But there was a catch.
Although Oregon voted to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic use in 2020 through Rule 109—and additionally voted to decriminalize possession of all drugs through Rule 110—Shroom House had opened its doors without the slightest state approval.
Oregon has a licensing system for the sale and use of therapeutic psilocybin. But as of this writing, the state hasn’t licensed a single facilitator or treatment facility — and it won’t until next month.
And as soon as the experiment started, the cops put the kibosh on it. In the early morning of December 8, Portland police raided the store, seized mushrooms and $13,000 in cash, and arrested four people involved in the store. News reports indicate that the company’s owners have concealed their identities through multiple LLCs.
Illegal stores frustrate advocates
While illegal shroomeries are clearly considered a risky business, they may be doing more than just breaking the law. Legalization advocates worry that pop-up shops like Shroom House could undermine the legitimacy of the legalization movement itself.
In Oregon, for example, counties can vote to go without therapeutic psilocybin, and these rogue retailers could add an extra appeal to that option. As reported by Leafly, nearly 70% of Oregon counties voted against allowing psilocybin treatment centers in last month’s midterm elections. At least part of this finding was driven by fears of opening local shroom houses in local communities.
Related
Nearly 70% of Oregon bans psilocybin, but clinics will open next year anyway
In Colorado, which voted to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic purposes this November, counties cannot refuse treatment centers but can restrict them through zoning policies.
“It’s like someone opening a cocaine store on Burnside,” remarked State Senator Elizabeth Steiner (D-Portland), a proponent of legal therapeutic psilocybin, frustrated to Willamette Weekupon upon seeing Shroom House.
What is the timeline for legal mushrooms in Oregon?
While Oregon will begin offering legal adult-use psilocybin in early 2023, don’t expect the state to approve a business like Shroom House any time soon.
That’s because Oregon law only allows adults to consume psilocybin in a licensed facility under the guidance of a licensed facilitator.
Additionally, multiple media reports indicate that Measure 109 does not specifically decriminalize gift-giving — a model used in gray-zone cannabis markets across the country — where a customer purchases any item, such as a sticker or NFT, and the store in your head – change the product “for free”.
Amanita muscaria remains the only mushroom legally available for purchase
Anyone looking to buy legal mushrooms from a retail store (or online) in the US currently has only one option: Amanita muscaria, also known as fly agaric.
This psychedelic mushroom does not contain psilocybin. Instead, it contains a related compound called muscimol. Since the United States bans psilocybin and not the shrooms themselves, Amanita remains legal in every state (except Louisiana).
In September, a Florida store called Chillum began selling Amanita capsules and gummies. They source their products from a company called PsiloMart, and adults can legally buy these products online.
Muscimol has a reputation for being less potent than psilocybin and you can read more about the product here.
As with ingesting any psychoactive substance, we recommend consumers start low and go slow.
Max Savage Levenson
Max Savage Levenson probably has the lowest cannabis tolerance of any author on the cannabis beat. He also writes about music for Pitchfork, Bandcamp and other bespectacled people. He is the co-host of the Hash podcast. His dream interview is Tyler the Creator.
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