Modern Culture

With magic mushrooms, small businesses lead…

…who gets to capitalize on magic mushrooms – and how they gain access – remains a key question. The challenge for regulators is how to create a framework that will allow legal mushroom businesses to thrive against fierce competition from the underground. “We know there is an unregulated market, as well as centuries of use by Indigenous communities,” says Angela Allbee, the psilocybin services section manager at the Oregon Health Authority… Magic mushrooms are moving from the margins to the mainstream. In the past two years, at least six ’shroom dispensaries have opened in Vancouver, which recently decriminalized hard drugs and has become a key testing ground for broader policy reform. Similar – albeit more discreet – shops are opening in US cities where mushrooms have been decriminalized, such as Oakland, Calif., and Portland, Ore.

Commercial sales are still illegal in the US and Canada, but these black-market businesses operate through loopholes including religious freedom exemptions, gifting programs, and pop-up events. Digital sellers proliferate on social media, where anonymous accounts openly hawk heavily branded wares… the vast grassroots movement to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms is pressing the issue.,.. Although current laws protect only personal psychedelic use, decriminalization is fostering a climate in which underground operators are engaging in sales, distribution, and direct or auxiliary services with increasing boldness… These changes in the law place personal use and possession as the lowest priority for law enforcement, reclassifying such acts as civil penalties subject to fines instead of jail time. Activists say the measures have had a direct impact on the risks that underground operators are more willing to take. “The volume is definitely turned up,” agrees Travis Tyler Fluck, co-founder of Denver Mushroom Cooperative and a leader of the Decriminalize Denver movement. “There are group meet-ups where people are happy to share mushrooms and talk about this stuff. It’s a source of pride.”

Original Article (Bloomberg):
With magic mushrooms, small businesses lead, hoping laws will follow
Artwork Fair Use: muffinn

Modern Culture

…to town

Modern Culture