The Psychedelic Mushrooms Market; Between Legitimate Harvesting And Illegal Retail Sales

While psychedelics reform is clearly gaining momentum, not only in the U.S. but notably in places like Australia and less so Canada. The fact is, all compounds remain currently Schedule I drugs (or equivalents) and thus federally illegal in many countries including the U.S.

The regulatory advances on these substances have been joined by an also-clear change in public perception, which is not to say that psychedelics were unknown to people before. Now, they have effectively entered the mainstream and are being considered by a greater majority looking at their therapeutic potential as mental health treatments.

This is the case especially for psilocybin mushrooms, considering the numerous and acclaimed tales on microdosing’s benefits as well as the ample number of conditions by them targeted and currently being assessed in advanced clinical trials.

Businesses are responding to that demand.

Within the legal scenario, licensed psychedelics biotech Optimi Health OPTHF has recently completed harvesting of no less than 300kg of GMP-compliant Psilocybe Cubensis fungi destined for the Australian medical market, where physicians have received a green light to use psilocybin-assisted therapy for patients with Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD.)

For international export, Optimi will extract medical-grade psilocybin from the mushrooms’ bodies, process and encapsulate it, and ship it from its Princeton, BC facility to Australia, where it will be sold to other licensed medical entities through partner Mind Medicine Australia and Optimi’s representatives.

And yet, it’s no secret that people are buying psychedelic mushrooms across the country without permits of any kind. 

The shops offering them usually have them in low quantities and are frequently visited by the police, arrests included.

The LA Times recently reported on two suburban cannabis dispensaries that additionally and quietly offer psilocybin-containing mushrooms and products like gummies and chocolate bars.

California is one of the states pursuing psychedelics reform this year. To date, all these substances are illegal in California. Nonetheless, the shops seem to be no exception but rather reflect people's willingness to support decriminalization, following the steps taken by San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Oakland.

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Thapana_Studio and ANCH on Shutterstock.