VICTORIA — The gray exterior of Dana Larsen’s mushroom shop belies the mosaic of psychedelia inside, with paintings of Incan gods spewing fire and lightning. Inside, shelves are stocked with hemp lip balm and stoner-centric comic books. But the storefront in downtown Vancouver isn’t a regular marijuana dispensary; it sells hallucinogenic mushrooms and is open to people of all ages. A recent high court ruling struck psilocybin from the list of illicit drugs, making it legal for people to buy, grow and even sell the mushrooms in Canada. This link organicshroomcanada.co

Psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found in magic mushrooms, is a potential treatment for depression and anxiety. But it’s not yet widely available and it’s complicated to get a prescription from Health Canada. Despite that, demand has been increasing. And a growing number of Canadians are willing to pay for a mushroom-derived product they say could be more effective than antidepressants or opiate painkillers.

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CBC visited the Organic Shrooms Canada production space in Masset, B.C., where the process begins with the fungus growing in a controlled environment, then drying and being ground into psilocybin capsules. The pills are then distributed across the country and abroad.

The company is one of 69 licensed producers in Canada that make psilocybin-derived products. It’s a small but rapidly expanding business, and it says it hopes to become a global player in the market for what it calls “micro dose” psilocybin. It plans to offer a smaller tablet of about 25 milligrams.