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Canada is globally known for its liberal medical policies, be its public health care programs, medically-assisted death bill and, of course, the federal legalization of cannabis in 2018. Now, the country may even be inching closer to permitting the use of psychedelics.
Last year, Health Canada began working with a string of organizations and companies to expand the access of magic mushrooms and other psychedelic therapies. The first round of access was reportedly granted to a group of patients with terminal or mental illnesses. The next round came for medical professionals who had previously petitioned for it.
What Exactly Are Psychedelics?
In the simplest if terms, psychedelics are a type of hallucinogenic drugs which can impact your cognitive processes and alter your sense of perception and reality for a span of time. They come in a variety of forms and are even found in nature in the form of psilocybin.
Psilocybin, a chemical compound, can be found in at least 200 different types of fungus. And these are often nicknamed as magic mushrooms, or shrooms.
What Are The Laws About Psychedelics In Canada?
Legally, Canada put a ban on psilocybin back in 1974, about six years after the US did.
However, Health Canada has been making exceptions under certain circumstances to the country’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for years now.
Back in 2003, the national health regulator reportedly permitted Vancouver-based Insite Supervised Injection Site access to psychedelic therapies. Over the years, it has also granted a number of churches the permission to use a hallucinogenic tea called ayahuasca as a part of their ceremonies.
More recently, in December 2020, Health Canada announced its intentions to rescind certain amendments that prohibit the use of controlled drugs through the Special Access Program (SAP). Under this program, health care professionals were allowed to seek an approval to access non-salable psychedelic drugs to treat patients with certain conditions.
Following the announcement, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said that Health Canada’s decision cannot be deemed as controversial for all, especially doctors.
Some Canadian organizations, however, are working on pushing the boundary further beyond just exceptions based on cases, and trying to get restrictions on psychedelics lifted altogether.
