As more people seek to find spiritual experiences, as well as relief from depression, anxiety and PTSD, they are looking into psychedelic mushrooms. And this has led to the creation of a new type of dispensary that sells the hallucinogenic mushrooms known as magic mushrooms. These mushroom dispensaries often offer a variety of products and services to consumers, including guided mushroom experiences, therapy sessions, and educational workshops.

These magic mushroom dispensary stores have been popping up in cities across the country and Canada, selling everything from the mushrooms themselves to the psilocybin they contain. While psilocybin is considered to be a Schedule III drug, the store owners operate in a legal gray area that mirrors the cannabis dispensaries that have taken advantage of state laws and cannabis market deregulation.

A Beginner’s Guide to Magic Mushrooms: What You Need to Know

Inside the Shroom House, located in a small studio in downtown Vancouver, customers walk into a minimalist space decorated with magic mushroom artwork and books on the subject. They are asked to show their ID before entering. Once they do, Darren Lyman, owner of the co-op, will go over what types of mushrooms are available and their potential therapeutic benefits. Afterwards, clients are given four grams of blue-streaked Penis Envy mushrooms to take home.

At a similar shop in Vancouver, where the business has been open since 2020, a man named Dana Larsen sells his own brand of “magic mushrooms” that he calls “the most psilocybin-like” mushrooms on the market. He says he has to make special arrangements with the government to get the mushrooms for his shop, but they are usually delivered to the store within an hour of an order.