Conservatives pitch legalizing some psychedelics with bill to revamp Canada's drug laws

conservativist MP Corey Tochor introduced young statute law on tues to legalise prescribing psychedelics like psilocybin (colloquially known as magic mushrooms), which researchers and patients say can effectively treat some mental health disorders.

Under Canada's federal drug laws, psilocybin is a controlled substance and possession, production and distribution are illegal without authorization.

These psychedelics were criminalized during the so-called war on drugs, when many Western countries like Canada cracked down on substances seen as dangerous, addictive and a source of crime.

Defenders argue this classification doesn't fit given the scientific and anecdotal data suggesting psilocybin — derived from some mushrooms that grow in the tropics — can ease major depression and help with substance abuse like alcoholism.

Health Canada allows a limited number of patients to access psilocybin through its application-based Special Access Program, but advocates say the process is cumbersome, involving a tangle of red tape that can sometimes take over a year to navigate.

Plus, Health Canada has started rejecting more psilocybin applications than in the past. Approval rates dropped to about 30 per cent in recent months, according to data gathered by the Conservatives.

A spokesperson for the department said it has issued just 354 authorizations for psilocybin since January 2022. "As an experimental drug, its safety and efficacy have not been established," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Tochor's private member's bill would clear away those hurdles by allowing physicians to prescribe psilocybin and psilocin without needing approval from federal bureaucrats.

It would also direct Health Canada to give psilocybin "priority review status," which would allow it to be better studied after what some advocates say has been a half-century-long "psychedelic research winter."

The Saskatoon MP said he was inspired to act after one of his constituents, Thomas Hartle, approached him when Health Canada revoked his access to psilocybin, which Hartle had been using to treat the severe anxiety he experienced during oncology treatments. 

Tochor said Hartle ended up travelling to the Caribbean three times a year to access the psilocybin he couldn't legally get at home before passing away in 2024 at age 56.

While Hartle had access to medical assistance in dying (MAID), the federal government cut him off from a drug that was making his life more tolerable while he fought to survive.

"The state will help you end your life but won't grant you legal access to a plant that is non-toxic and non-addictive. It makes no sense what we're doing in Canada," Tochor said.

"There's been an explosion of research that shows it can be an effective treatment for mental health and addiction patients. There is a body of science out there that's showing this is safe and there's no reason why we manage it the way we do."

Tochor noted that a grey market exists in Canada with storefronts illegally selling psilocybin outside the Special Access Program. These stores have been the subject of police raids, and in Ottawa's case, a series of suspicious arson attacks.

He said patients in need shouldn't be forced to turn to such places and risk criminal penalties to get psilocybin.

Psychedelics use can produce serious side effects.

There can be "bad trips" where a person experiences hallucinations, paranoia, extreme fear, confusion or panic attacks. There are also neurological and cardiovascular conditions that can result from drug use.

Impairment from psychedelics can also lead to dangerous behaviour and psychosis. 

That's why, Tochor said, the drug is best administered in a clinical setting under a doctor's care, something that's difficult now given it's a controlled substance akin to drugs like heroin and cocaine.

What's also difficult is getting a bill like this through Parliament.

Private member's bills usually fail, especially without the support of the government of the day.

"We're hopeful," he said regarding possible Liberal support.

Conservatives have railed against illicit drug use in the past, particularly the Liberal move to create "safe supply" to address the opioid overdose crisis.

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Tochor sees psilocybin in a different light. "This is right up the Conservatives' alleys. This is about freedom of choice," he said.

Josh Veinotte, a Canadian Armed Forces veteran who served in Afghanistan, was diagnosed with PTSD after witnessing the horrors of war while deployed as part of Operation Medusa in 2006.

"I found it much harder to sustain a professional life. It was just getting really messy. I felt so empty inside," he said.

After finding the standard pharmaceuticals prescribed for his condition ineffective, Veinotte turned to intensive therapy and mushrooms to try to turn things around.

"I was able to come to terms with the chaotic and traumatic events that had happened in my past. It was almost like they just made sense all of a sudden. I didn't expect to feel so clear afterwards," he said of his first experience about 10 years ago, which included drinking a mushroom tea and sitting with his thoughts for six hours in an altered state.

"It absolutely changed my life," he said, adding he's since reconnected with friends and family he lost touch with during the depths of his PTSD-induced depression.

Veinotte said he went to school for cybersecurity, rebuilt his life and has become an evangelist of sorts for what psilocybin can do for those grappling with a seemingly insurmountable mental health condition.

"I hope veterans can kick the door open to help everybody else get access to this," he said. "Right now, it's really hard. It's underground. It's hidden. There's a lot of apprehension as a result."

Danilo Bzdok is a professor at McGill University and a researcher on a landmark study on psychedelic drugs recently published in the Nature Medicine journal.

Bzdok examined imaging data gathered by labs in five countries to see the drugs' effects on the brain. He found that psychedelics "reconfigure large-scale cortical organization," and these drugs could be "promising scientific and clinical tools" as a result.

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He said any move to liberalize laws around psilocybin will help teams like his better study the drug and other psychedelics, and how to use them in health care.

"There are benefits of psychedelics, it's hard to deny it at this point. There's massive, rapidly accumulating evidence that it's effective at alleviating mental health symptoms," he said.

"What's lagging behind are the legal barriers in many countries. This would be an important and necessary step."

If you or someone you know is struggling, here’s where to look for help:

Senior reporter

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