BC is home to the largest magic mushroom farm in the country

Princeton-based Optimi Health has invested $14 million and includes two 10,000 square foot facilities with a combined total of 10 grow rooms, which can produce about 2,000 kilograms of dried magic mushrooms per month, according to Todd Henderson. , head cultivator of Optimi Health.

This is a phenomenal scale. Nobody else in the world does what [nous] are doing right nowenthuses Mr. Henderson.

Thousands of years ago the Chinese and indigenous people used these products to solve all sorts of problems on their own, and here we are, thousands of years later.he continues.

Mushrooms commonly known as “magic mushrooms” are a controlled substance in Canada. It is illegal to grow, possess or sell them without authorization from Health Canada.

This month, the agency granted Optimi Health a license to produce the mushrooms as well as a research exemption to extract the mind-altering compounds, psilocybin and psilocin, for use in clinical trials, the company says. .

The company says its facilities are built to meet the requirements of Good Manufacturing Practices for Drugs, a quality assurance standard enacted and required by Health Canada to produce psilocybin for clinical research.

We are the only organic facility [avec cet agrément] in the world who can provide what we do. We have contacts all over the world with people who want to research psilocybinsays Leigh Grant, Chief Operating Officer of Optimi Health.

Researchers are conducting clinical trials on psilocybin, the main psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Curtis Allen

According to COO Bryan Safarik, the idea to build the facility was born out of a desire to explore the medicinal benefits of natural products.

It’s amazing what the research shows when it comes to medicinal benefits [des champignons hallucinogènes] and see where it all might goMr. Safarik said.

The company also grows unregulated varieties of mushrooms, including Lion’s Mane and Chaga mushrooms, which are commonly found in health food stores.

Therapeutic benefits

The main product remains psychedelic mushrooms, of which Optimi Health hopes to position itself as a major supplier in the global medical-grade psilocybin market.

In recent years, scientists have investigated the therapeutic benefits of psychedelic mushrooms for addiction treatment and also for alleviating the anxiety of terminally ill patients.

Zach Walsh, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), has been researching psilocybin for the past 10 years. Notably, he did a recent study on microdosing the compound, in which people took repeated small doses of the mushrooms to treat depression and anxiety.

There is growing evidence that psilocybin can help resolve treatment-resistant depression as effectively, if not more effectively, than traditional antidepressants.says Zach Walsh.

People have mystical experiences with psilocybin… Depression can be a loss of meaning in life and a loss of purpose, and these kinds of profound experiences can really revitalize peoplehe continues.

In January, Health Canada reinstated some aspects of its Special Access Program, which had been significantly modified under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2013.

Ottawa has notably allowed doctors to request access to restricted drugs, such as psilocybin, to treat patients suffering from mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.

With information from Brady Strachan