Open in full screen mode The police forced the closure of the Mushroom Cabinet. Radio-Canada Hamilton police announced the permanent closure of two magic mushroom shops in the city's east end last Friday, while preventing the opening of a third. The sale or possession of magic mushrooms, also known as psilocybin, which offer psychedelic effects, is illegal in Canada. Police forced the closure of Mushroom Cabinet, opened in December 2022, on several occasions. Same thing for Shroomyz, in operation since the beginning of the summer. This time, Hamilton police said in a press release that the closure would be permanent, noting that the owners of the two stores are working with police and have changed the locks on the stores. During the operation, police seized nearly 10 kilograms of dried mushrooms, with an estimated value of $97,100. A 35-year-old man, an employee of Mushroom Cabinet, and a 50-year-old woman, an employee of Shroomyz, were separately charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime.
The police carried out searches.
Last Thursday, a third store, Shroom Godz, opened across the street from Mushroom Cabinet. According to the police, the owner of this store agreed to close its doors after being informed of the arrests in the two other establishments.
During the Last year, magic mushroom shops opened their doors in several towns in the province. According to expert Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, these are acts of civil disobedience.
Mr. Owusu-Bempah, a sociologist working on psilocybin research with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Canada, says opening these establishments forces cities to choose between enforcing laws against drugs or tolerating them. He points out that before cannabis was legalized in 2018, illegal stores sold marijuana.
However, Andrew Hathaway, a professor at x27;University of Guelph specializing in illicit drug use, harm reduction, human rights and Canadian drug policy, believes legalization of magic mushrooms is still a long way off.< /p>
I haven't heard of decriminalization of mushrooms, as is the case for cannabis, a- he told CBC in August.
With information from CBC News