A new illegal magic mushroom dispensary opened this week in Kitchener, offering a wide variety of mushrooms containing the hallucinogenic compound psilocybin. It’s a shop that fits right in with those sprouting up in Canada’s biggest cities. At locations like Fun Guyz, Shroom City and House of Mushrooms, paintings of colorful fungus adorn storefronts and employees hand out discount fliers to passersby.

The psilocybin inside magicmushroomsdispensary.ca people to see, hear and feel things that aren’t there (hallucinations). It’s not a recreational drug and can cause anxiety, fear, nausea and muscle twitches. Only a small number of Canadians have legal access to psilocybin, by participating in research studies or getting special permission from Health Canada from their doctors. That’s why a growing number of people are turning to mushroom shops.

What to Expect When Visiting a Magic Mushroom Dispensary in Canada

A lawyer who represents terminally ill patients in a challenge to Health Canada’s program for psilocybin says the current process is “unnecessarily bureaucratic and time consuming,” with too many requirements, including finding a doctor willing to approve the drug. Jack Lloyd, who edited the book The Psilocybin Mushroom Bible, said these obstacles have left some people without relief at a critical moment in life.

He’s urging the government to change its approach by creating a system of dispensaries similar to how cannabis is sold in some places. One of his clients is a man who wants to use psilocybin for end-of-life anxiety, but he can’t navigate the process. He’s hoping to bring a case against the government to federal court by the end of the year and, if that’s unsuccessful, he plans to take his challenge all the way to the Supreme Court.