Inside the Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary. Photos by Terry Duncan
On Hastings Avenue, five blocks away from the Vancouver Police Museum in Vancouver, Canada, is a conspicuous shop with a day-glo yellow-and-pink sign, boldly announcing the sale of some of the most powerful psychoactive chemicals ever synthesized. Dana Larsen, the owner of the shop—the Coca Leaf Café and Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary—is the face of Canada’s mushroom dispensaries in a sea of unknown mystery-owners. According to Larsen, his shop is the only retailer in the world that sells psychedelics other than psilocybin-containing mushrooms, such as LSD, DMT, 2C-B, Mescaline, and other psychoactive compounds.
His visibility distinguishes him from other drug advocates, along with his past ventures. He was the co-founder of Cannabis Culture magazine, the owner of multiple unlicensed cannabis dispensaries , and the author of satirical books, such as Green Buds and Hash and Harry Pothead.
Emerald talked to Larsen about his beginnings in drug advocacy, Canada’s growing market of illicit mushroom dispensaries, and more.
Emerald Magazine: Tell us about your journey into drug advocacy?
Dana Larsen (DL): I’ve been doing this for over 35 years. In my late teens, I started using cannabis, and I’ve always been politically interested. I recognized early on that it was more than just cannabis; it was a bigger issue—the entire War on Drugs is really a war on plants.
I went to university in Vancouver, and I started a club on campus called the League for Ethical Action on Drugs with some other students. Then, after starting Cannabis Culture magazine, I opened the third medicinal cannabis dispensary in Vancouver, and we really helped crack open the medicinal cannabis movement in Canada. Then, after cannabis became legal, a lot of people went legit and started legal shops. Or they were disappointed that legalization didn’t look like they hoped it would. So, I opened a psychedelic dispensary, and now we sell not only 20 to 30 kinds of psychedelic mushrooms, but also LSD, DMT, and 2C-B.
Emerald: When you opened the Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary in 2019, were you hoping it would help push for legalization of psychedelics?
DL: We wouldn’t have gotten to legalize cannabis in Canada without there being hundreds of shops across the country already selling it illegally. That prerequisite was needed to get to full legalization. I think part of the formula to get the law changed is acceptance and openness of mass civil disobedience.
In Canada, we have a system where you can make change under the right conditions. I expect that we will see changes to the psychedelic laws in the same way. It’s more challenging with psychedelics, partly because of the public perception. People are more afraid of LSD than smoking a joint. Mushrooms sort of open it up, then we ask why not legalize LSD and DMT and 2C-B?
We need more of these dispensaries across Canada. We need to win a bunch more court cases. Then you need the perfect combination of the right Prime Minister and the right situation where this gets to the top of the pile and the law changes. That’s probably at least 10 years away.
Emerald: What is it about Canada’s governmental landscape that allows for these dispensaries, despite selling illegal drugs, to operate? How are you able to keep the stores open?
DL: It comes from the ground up. So, cities are the first ones because cities deal with the realities of the drug war and prohibition.
Vancouver has their own police force, while most of Canada has the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police], which is less responsive to the demands of the local community. […] But I’m not immune to getting raided or going to jail just because I’m in the news.
We do have some pretty good case law on mushrooms. Selling mushrooms is more defensible because there are a number of Canadians who have gotten legal access to use mushrooms. But they don’t have a place to access them.
I take it a step at a time. We started off in the beginning selling kratom, and afterwards we brought in the mushrooms and other drugs. There’s some luck involved, but there’s also skill, planning, and careful decision-making in what I do and don’t sell.
Emerald: The Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary, which sells psychedelics and entheogens, has a business license. How is this possible given the legal status of psychedelics in Canada?
Dana: When we used to open cannabis dispensaries back in the day, we wouldn’t apply for a business license. You would open up the shop, and the city would turn a blind eye. So, when we were opening these ones, I thought, let’s apply for a business license, say we’re doing retail and be vague on the license application and don’t put it in my name. So, we got a license at our first location. But interestingly, once we started selling mushrooms, the city still renewed it. For two or three years, they renewed it even though they knew what we were doing. Then, after we got raided, they tried to take it away.
Later, the city license inspector comes in. But he doesn’t have the legal power to buy illegal drugs from us and get them tested. It sounds ridiculous, but the city was unable to prove in court that the Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary was selling anything illegal. They didn’t have any evidence. They did a very bad job in court and the judge was like, “they’re probably selling illegal things, but you haven’t proved it to me beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Emerald: Do you think psychedelics are distinct from other substances and should occupy a different legal status?
Dana: Tactically, you’re not going to end the drug war if you don’t get marijuana legalized first. You’re not going to get cocaine legalized if you are in a country where you can’t legalize marijuana. But I don’t think legalization means you can go buy crack at the store. There should be rules. There’s a lot of rules around alcohol and even cannabis, how it’s sold and regulated. I’m not a drug exceptionalist, but a lot of cannabis folks are. They say marijuana is the good one and other drugs are bad. I don’t like the attitude of “my drug is better.”
That’s why I have the Coca Leaf Cafe. I think if we’re going to legalize cocaine, the way to do it is to get coca tea legalized first.
I believe if cocaine and coca leaf were as legal as caffeine, then snorting cocaine would be about as popular as snorting caffeine. The demand would decrease drastically, not by punishing people for snorting cocaine or criminalizing it, but just by making milder, safer, more pleasant forms available. The more accessible a drug is, the more people go to the milder forms. But my understanding is that the War on Drugs causes all the harms it tries to prevent. I’ve never seen anything change my mind about that.
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