St. Thomas police raid illegal magic mushroom shop

Illegal mushroom dispensary raided in St. Thomas St. Thomas police raided Fun Guyz, an illegal mushroom dispensary and arrested London man. CTV's Gerry Dewan reports.

St. Thomas police executed a warrant on the Fun Guyz magic mushroom shop at 309 Talbot St. on Thursday.

"Our street crimes unit did arrest a 39-year-old London resident with possession of a controlled substance for trafficking purposes,” said St. Thomas Police Corporate Communications Director Samantha Wakefield. “The individual was an employee of the establishment here."

It's a scenario that's been played out numerous times, including last month in Montreal at a location called Les Fun Guyz.

Wakefield said St. Thomas police were aware of the pattern but that didn't stop them from acting when community members raised concerns, "Our approach will continue to be to act in the best interest of the safety of our community."

Police said they found various psilocybin strains in the store. Psilocybin is the active ingredient in magic mushrooms.

Officers seized 7,150 grams of psilocybin with an estimated street value of $71,504.

In the past, representatives of Fun Guyz have spoken openly about their effort to exclude psilocybin from controlled substances laws.

A call to a number on the St. Thomas store Friday was answered by a man who said they were no longer doing on-camera interviews.

He declined to identify himself but told CTV News, "We like charges because we're just going to do a constitutional challenge with everyone that gets charged."

The St. Thomas Fun Guyz location sits half-a-block away from the Grace Cafe Street Mission and Soup Kitchen. Next door to Grace Café is it’s companion operation, the Annex Addictions Resource Centre.

Director Don Trepanier has a number of concerns about the Fun Guyz outlet, starting with a location that’s close to agencies dealing with vulnerable populations.

"We're dealing with people in active addiction who have very little in the way of impulse control, have very little in their ability to say no,” stressed Trepanier.

He admitted there has been encouraging research on micro-dosing psilocybin for the treatment of issues like anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and even in the effort to overcome addictions, but he believes it's imperative it's use be controlled and monitored, "When we have uncontrolled access to these substances, then it becomes a problem."

Representatives with Fun Guyz location in St. Thomas said despite the police action, the store will continue to operate.