
Exclusive: Three Canadians with mental health conditions receive legal access to psilocybin mushrooms
Exemptions show a shift in approval criteria but "the process is still broken," advocates say
Three Canadians struggling with mental health conditions have received exemptions to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act from the federal Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos.
The Section 56 exemptions, granted last Monday, allow the individuals to legally undergo psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. The patients had waited up to 283 days for a response.
They were assisted in their applications by TheraPsil, a B.C.-based non-profit coalition that has been advocating for legal, compassionate access to psilocybin therapy since 2019 .
The organization has now helped 47 patients secure Section 56 exemptions, with the first four exemptions occurring in August 2020. Spencer Hawkswell, the organization’s CEO, called these recent exemptions “the most important news that we’ve had since then.”