Law Enforcement Cracks Down On Controlled Substances In Connecticut & Vancouver, Various Arrests Made

Following a potential drug-dealing lead, a joint drug task force with federal, state and local law enforcement authorities raided a property in Burlington, Connecticut and found large bags of psilocybin mushrooms worth around $8.5 million.

Officials raided the home on November 2, after a tip that someone was operating a growing facility. They seized the mushrooms production as well as charged a 21-year-old man with “operating a drug factory and possession with intent to sell/distribute narcotics,” reported AP News.

The man, who was arrested, stated that the mushrooms were not illegal and declined to consent to a home search after showing the officials a detached garage. After obtaining a warrant, officials found “psilocybin-containing mushrooms in various stages of growth” besides ventilators and other equipment.

According to a police statement, the resident eventually “admitted to investigators that the mushrooms were in fact psilocybin, which is a Schedule 1 controlled substance -defined as drugs, substances and chemicals that are not currently accepted for medical use and have a high potential for abuse.”

Released on $250,000 bail, the man was ordered to return to trial on Nov. 16 in New Britain. 

While reform is advancing at the states level, Connecticut’s 2023 legislative attempt to decriminalize small amounts of psilocybin didn’t make it through the Senate.

Vancouver Police Executes Drug Warrants, Arrests Safe Supply Advocates

In Canada, the Vancouver police raided three psilocybin stores reported to be operating illegally. They seized "a variety” of controlled substances.

Search warrants for the shops, located in the Marpole, Mount Pleasant and Strathcona neighborhoods, were used during November 1 raids. Investigators said the seized substances were likely “being bought and sold in bulk quantities to walk-in customers.”

Vancouver Police Dept.’s Sgt. Steve Addison, who says significant evidence is required to obtain a search warrant, stated that officials had been investigating “for a number of months,” and that the conclusion is recommending criminal charges.

Psilocybin is currently prohibited by the Canadian Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA.) Some exceptions -on and again denounced as insufficient- are made under Health Canada’s legal pathway.

Dana Larsen, drug policy reform activist and reported owner of all three shops said his businesses are licensed and he hopes to reopen them soon.

"This is pretty surprising," Larsen said in a video. "If you believe in progressive drug policy then this is a real setback for the city of Vancouver."

The shops’ investigation followed one into the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF,) a Canadian activist group defending safe consumption in the face of a rise in overdose deaths. Cofounders Eris Nyx and Keremy Kalicum were arrested by the Vancouver police on October 25 following the DULF office raids and two homes of people associated with the organization. 

Released on bail the same evening of the arrest, charges included allegedly trafficking cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. Further investigation will come in January.

VPD’s statement on the arrests notes that “we have always warned that anyone who violates the Criminal Code or the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act could face enforcement… we have now taken action to stop it.”

On the activists side, an open letter calls for an end to the criminalization of community-regulated safe supply, a restoration of DULF’s funding from VCH, and to formally protect the right to community-based safe supply in British Columbia.

See DULF’s “compassion club model” in Talking Drugs’ interview with founding member Garth Mullins.

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Acontent_creator and BCFC on Shutterstock.