As a result of heightened public interest and changing legislation, storefronts hawking mushrooms and other psychedelics are popping up in cities across Canada. The smoky gray exterior of Dana Larsen’s Magic Mushroom shop in Vancouver’s Osborne Village belies a mosaic of psychedelia, with paintings of Incan gods spewing fire and lightning and shelves stocked with hemp lip balms and stoner-centric comic books. URL https://northcoastremedies.com/magic-mushrooms-vancouver/

But despite the growing popularity of these stores, they operate in a legal grey area, selling psilocybin without a licence and often making wild assertions about their products with no age checks.

Shroom Seekers’ Guide: Navigating Vancouver’s Magic Mushroom Scene

A Vancouver mycologist says last year’s exceptional drought stressed fungi, but the rains returned in September and this fall has been a good mushroom season. He expects the harvest will be even better next spring, when the weather is usually perfect for picking.

But even the best-trained mushroom pickers need to be cautious, as some of the plants and mushrooms people are trying to find are poisonous. “There is a wide variety of toxins in this ecosystem and it is very difficult to know what you’re dealing with,” said Richmond mycologist Peter Wang. “You can get very sick if you take the wrong one.”

While psilocybin-containing mushrooms can produce powerful experiences, not all trips are enjoyable. Some can be extremely frightening or dangerous, with side effects including hallucinations and feelings of loss of control. In some rare cases, severe side effects can also be fatal.