The Shroom Hub in Winnipeg is a New Kind of Drug

In an era of pot shops and cannabis dispensaries, there’s one place that’s selling a different kind of drug: magic mushrooms. A new retail operation has added a psychedelic vibe to Osborne Village, one of several mushroom dispensaries that have opened across Canada that are challenging existing rules on the substance.

Inside an unassuming building in Virginia Beach, Ryan Stab grows a collection of hard-to-find mushrooms. He calls them “herbal, medicinal” and says they can be consumed for health benefits without intoxicating you. He’s hoping to make a difference, he said, by growing and selling these mushrooms — known scientifically as Psilocybe muscaria — in farmers’ markets, grocery stores, and through direct mail orders. This link www.shroomhub.io

The emergence of a shroom renaissance — post-pandemic, mid-climate crisis — speaks to a spiritually malnourished generation in need of a bump of euphoria. It also mirrors a growing interest in mushrooms as meat substitutes, as plant-based diets become more popular.

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Shrooms have long been a staple of music festivals and youth counterculture, but modern medical research is exploring their potential to treat mental health conditions and ease end-of-life distress. But they can also be dangerous if taken incorrectly, and Health Canada warns that taking them may cause you to see or feel things that aren’t there, experience anxiety or fear, nausea or muscle twitches, and in extreme cases, lead to a bad trip or even death.

The owners of the Winnipeg store, which launched this month, say they’re using the same model as those that have opened in Ottawa, Hamilton, Toronto and Vancouver. They hope regulators, police and governments view the business through a similar lens to how they view marijuana retailers.