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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,538
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[CAN] Magic mushroom store opens up in Windsor amid push for legalization
#28384676 - 07/04/23 10:40 AM (10 months, 9 days ago) |
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Magic mushroom store opens up in Windsor amid push for legalization July 4, 2023 - CBC
FunGuyz is a magic mushroom dispensary that opened in Windsor's downtown. It's one of a few chains that have popped up across Ontario
A magic mushroom store has opened up on Ouellette Avenue in Windsor, Ont., by a company that says it's setting up psilocybin shops as part of a fight for legalization.
"We're just providing access to psilocybin in a safe manner, in a clean manner. At the end of the day, if people want to buy magic mushrooms, they will go and find it off the street," said the co-owner of Fun Guyz, Edgars Gorbans.
Windsor councillor Renaldo Agostino, who represents the downtown area, said he spotted the shop when walking around. At the time he spoke with CBC, he was looking into whether it was operating legally.
"I'm not here or there when it comes to what the store's purpose is, I just want to make sure that the regulations are in place, that the safety protocols are laid in place."
CBC has contacted Windsor police and the city of Windsor for comment.
Though the production, sale and possession of magic mushrooms are illegal in Canada and police have arrested store operators, similar shops are popping up elsewhere in Ontario and across the country.
FunGuyz opened its 11th location on Thursday at 395 Ouellette Avenue, and it's been going "great," according to Gorbans.
"They [customers] love that they can come in and speak to someone before they purchase and be guided by someone to do psilocybin," he said.
Psilocybin is the psychoactive substance in magic mushrooms.
Gorbans said most of the people coming into the store are those looking to microdose — taking small amounts of a drug at a time — and treat things like anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, though no psilocybin products are currently approved for medical use.
The store does not recommend people use the product for recreational use, he added.
"We're more trying to be basically trying to push people to use them for medical reasons. But obviously, we can't control someone [who] takes more than the microdose amounts available."
A risky business
The newly opened store has attracted the curious eyes of people in the community.
"I've had a few calls from some constituents," said Agostino.
"It's a curiosity thing, people are just not sure exactly what it is."
Agostino said when he went into the store, workers were very candid about the business.
"They didn't try to hide a thing and it kind of looks like they're selling small coffee bags of mushrooms, you know, well-packaged, clean," he said.
According to Gorbans, the company has also dealt with police raids where their product is seized. However, he adds they immediately reopen and challenge every charge they're handed.
He said they continue to work on the business in order to fight to have magic mushrooms legalized.
Research shows 'promising' results, but too early for final verdict: experts
Gorbans said customer testimonies have been positive. Health Canada says despite trials having shown "promising" results, there are no approved therapeutic products that include psilocybin.
Dr. Dominique Morisano, a clinical psychologist and adjunct professor at the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa, also noted potential in taking psychedelics.
She said evidence hasn't shown that psilocybin really work in any lasting way in such small doses, however, and there appears to be a placebo effect.
Still, Morisano, who also studies and provides psychedelic-assisted therapy in a research context, sees potential because larger doses have made a difference for some of her clients.
"We just don't know enough yet… I think we need to be studying these things in big populations," she said.
FunGuyz makes customers sign waivers when purchasing, and Gorbans says they don't sell to anyone under 19.
For those who don't approve of the storefront, Gorbans asks they take some time to research.
"We're not out here selling to kids, you know, we're not bothering anyone, we open up doors open to the public. That's all," he said.
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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,538
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Re: [CAN] Magic mushroom store opens up in Windsor amid push for legalization [Re: veggie]
#28387463 - 07/06/23 06:10 PM (10 months, 7 days ago) |
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Update ...
Windsor police raid downtown 'magic mushroom' seller July 6, 2023 - Windsor Star
Just a week after opening for business, the “magic mushrooms” seller in downtown Windsor has been shut down by police. Article content
Windsor police officers attended the FunGuyz location at 359 Ouellette Ave. in the middle of the day on Thursday.
The officers could be seen leaving the storefront carrying multiple bags of seized materials.
As of 2 p.m. Thursday, WPS have not disclosed any charges — but the police service warned earlier this week that it would enforce “current laws around illegal narcotics,” and hold accountable individuals who “illegally possess or traffic in these substances.”
A Toronto-based company, FunGuyz has multiple retail locations across Ontario, including in London, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, and the GTA.
The company openly sells mushroom products containing the hallucinogen psilocybin, in amounts ranging from microdose capsules to packages of seven to 28 grams.
Company co-owner Edgars Gorbans acknowledges that sale of such products is not currently legal in Canada.
Gorbans considers legalization a goal of the business, and he touts the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin dosing for mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.
“We want to legalize this so people can get the help they need,” Gorbans told the Star.
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viraldrome



Registered: 09/21/18
Posts: 4,227
Loc: Parts Unknown
Last seen: 1 hour, 52 minutes
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Re: [CAN] Magic mushroom store opens up in Windsor amid push for legalization [Re: veggie] 1
#28387621 - 07/06/23 08:04 PM (10 months, 7 days ago) |
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I would probably not use a shroom dispensary as I don't need 1, the freedom is cool but I'm meh on commercialization. These places need a lot of microdosers to be viable, I suspect they sell a lot of microdose capsules and edibles. Now a full on smart shop, that I would check out You would be busted five minutes after you opened if you even tried to open shroom store in Calgary. There is one criminal code in Canada but it's unevenly enforced across country, it's not fair. What is ignored in one place is raided in next. These guys can't have endless cash to keep opening new stores. The fines should eventually prove prohibitive to opening in hostile locations. This method of getting shutdown can't be sustainable.
-------------------- Lysergamides I have tried so far: 1P-LSD, 1cP-LSD, ALD-52, AL-LAD, LSZ, ETH-LAD, MIPLA, EIPLA, 1cP-AL-LAD
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