Police raid illegal magic mushroom dispensary in Cambridge

An illegal magic mushroom dispensary in Cambridge was the subject of a police raid, less than two weeks after it first opened.

Waterloo Regional Police said their Drugs and Firearms Unit searched the illegal business on King Street East on Tuesday and seized a large quantity of suspected psilocybin in various forms.

A 20-year-old Kitchener man was arrested and charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Last week, The City of Cambridge confirmed it was aware of the FunGuyz dispensary and that it was operating without a business licence. At the time, police said they were assessing the situation.

A statement from police read, “The Waterloo Regional Police Service is reminding the members of the public that psilocybin being sold (trafficked) is classified as a criminal offence under the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act (CDSA), as psilocybin is classified as a schedule three drug. Businesses selling these products are operating illegally and the substances sold are not regulated or quality controlled.”

A spokesperson for FunGuyz, who is using the alias of Mr. Floyd, told CityNews Kitchener that the police bust wasn’t entirely unexpected.

“It’s something that we do expect. The speed at which they came to our [Cambridge] location was a bit of a surprise, but it’s not like we were shocked.”

Mr. Floyd said the raid is part of the nature of their business but they aren’t ‘giving up’ and plan to reopen the King Street East dispensary as soon as possible.

“We will reopen — there’s no question about it,” said Mr. Floyd. “These are obviously setbacks, but they’re setbacks that we’ve all sort of agreed upon before opening up these stores. The goal doesn’t change. Having these stores open and readily accessible to adults who want to come in and purchase psilocybin, that’s what we aim to do.”

He said the operators of FunGuyz believe that magic mushrooms can have therapeutic benefits for some people, including for mental health and addiction issues.

“We think that having that alternative available to people in this country is the most paramount issue at hand. People can’t go to their doctors and just get a prescription [for psilocybin], the exemption process is incredibly difficult.”

He called the current restrictions in place for psilocybin ‘grossly unjustified’ and that he hopes the laws are eventually changed — pointing to the growing movement in Canada, similar to what happened with cannabis.

“It took a very long time for marijuana to become legal, a lot of people had to break the law before that happened. When you’re passionate about something and you truly believe in something, you have to fight. When it comes to this — one of the ways to change the laws, is break the laws.”

FunGuyz has opened 14 locations so far this year with a 15th set for Hamilton.

Despite the police seizures and a couple permanent store closures, Mr. Floyd said FunGuyz believe the ‘benefits’ that magic mushrooms can have outweigh any of the risks they’re facing. As of Wednesday night, the Cambridge dispensary had reopened.