222877
Will you get a flu shot this year?
Yes 
No 
Unsure 
Total Votes:  17202


Should recreational psychedelic drugs be legalized in Canada?

Poll: Legalize psychedelics?

It has been nearly four years since recreational cannabis was legalized in Canada, and many people may have thought grey-market dispensaries were a quirky part of Vancouver’s past, but history may be repeating itself as dark-market dispensaries have begun sprouting up again, this time selling psychedelic drugs such as mushrooms and peyote.

At least four dispensaries and several online operators have recently opened in the city. Because there are no government regulations allowing the sale of psychedelics, mushroom dispensaries are operating under a model similar to pre-legalization cannabis retail operations.

The Vancouver Police Department has said it is more concerned with trafficking by organized crime.

Robert Laurie, president of AD Lucem Law Corp., said law enforcement may also be concerned that raids on dispensaries will spark constitutional challenges, similar to those related to pre-legalization cannabis.

“Despite all of the excitement with the ‘shroom boom,’ I think Health Canada is very reluctant to jump to any conclusions that are going to have the result of recreational cannabis,” said Laurie. “There’s a lot that still has to happen before you’re going to legally see anything happen beyond access to psychedelic therapy.”

Cannabis legalization took 18 years to expand from medical marijuana exemptions to legalization.

The only way to legally obtain psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms, is through a health exemption.

But legal framing created by cannabis activists in the early 2000s may have given psychedelic drugs a head start down the path to legalization.

Seventy-five companies focused on the psychedelics industry were trading on Canadian exchanges as of January, according to a blog post from law firm McMillan LLP. But Laurie said that doesn’t mean legalization is imminent.

“Unlike cannabis, this is very much a medical path. I’m not aware of any companies of consequence that are talking about the recreational use of mushrooms,” Tim Moore, CEO of Havn Life Sciences Inc., told BIV in January 2021.

Read more

Have an opinion? Send it to [email protected]



Previous Polls

September 28, 2023 - 16354 votes
Do you agree with the province bringing back mandatory masking in B.C. health care facilities?

Yes: 7273
No: 8498
Unsure: 583

September 27, 2023 - 8776 votes
Should names of former Nazi soldiers, allowed to immigrate to Canada after the Second World War, be made public?

Yes: 5597
No: 2466
Unsure: 713

September 26, 2023 - 8086 votes
Should the federal and provincial governments end for-profit long-term care?

Yes: 5495
No: 1947
Unsure: 644

September 25, 2023 - 12049 votes
Should the Speaker of the House of Commons resign for inviting a former Nazi to Parliament?

Yes: 8596
No: 2524
Unsure: 929

September 23, 2023 - 11379 votes
Should the province fund "medic trucks" for fire departments to respond to calls for medical service instead of using firetrucks.?

Yes: 9419
No: 1378
Unsure: 582



Previous Poll Results

Do you agree with the province bringing back mandatory masking in B.C. health care facilities?

Total Votes:  16354
Yes: 
44.47%
No: 
51.96%
Unsure: 
3.56%

» Previous Polls

Have an idea for a poll question?
Email us [email protected]


223414
221330