An illegal magic mushroom chain called FunGuyz has indefinitely closed all of its 30 locations across Canada.
A spokesperson for the stores who identified himself as Chris Stewart says they’ve been raided over 120 times.
“We give up. Thank you and you guys accomplished your task,” he told CBC News, directly addressing the police officers involved in the raids across the country.
A majority of the 30 FunGuyz shops were located within Ontario in cities like Toronto, Ottawa, Cambridge, London and Windsor. There was also one location in Montreal.
“They [police] have taken products, shut down warehouses. We’re talking over a million dollars worth of product,” Stewart said.
“It’s hard to keep going. We give up.”
In May, a newly opened FunGuyz location in Chatham, Ont., was raided by police just days after opening. The police service there said they would “remain committed to actively combating unlawful businesses.”
“It is important to note that the possession, sale and production of magic mushrooms, psilocybin, and psilocin are illegal,” Chatham-Kent Police said.
In April, Waterloo regional police raided a shop in Kitchener, Ont. — and it reopened just two days later.
In July 2023, Montreal police raided a store selling illegal hallucinogenic mushrooms on the same day that it opened.
These are just three examples of the multiple raids that took place at FunGuyz locations across the country. After a store is raided and shut down, it often would promptly reopen about a day or two later, before being raided by police again.
Layoffs and ‘panicking’ customers
Stewart said the store closures have put over 50 employees out of work. He says in addition to that, they have been getting many worried phone calls and emails from customers.
“They’re kind of panicking,” he said. “We’ve built a reputable name and people trust FunGuyz.”
The presence of a new illegal magic mushroom dispensary in Kitchener attracted a handful of eager customers on opening day. CBC K-W’s Aastha Shetty asked them why they want to shop for magic mushrooms in their city.
Stewart said they’d try to retain customers by selling products online at discounted prices. He says there are no plans to shut down the online store.
He says he’s hoping the closures will free up police resources.
“Causing FunGuyz to shut down is not bringing any of the serious problems we have on these public streets off the street… like opioids and stuff that are actually harmful to people and kill people,” Stewart said.
Of the 30 stores, 10 shops were located in Toronto. CBC News reached out to the Toronto Police Service, which responded back to say “we don’t have any comment on this.”
CBC News has reached out to the Waterloo Regional Police Service for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
Comparing magic mushrooms to cannabis legalization
Andy Hathaway, professor of sociology at the University of Guelph says there are a lot of lessons to learn from cannabis when it comes to the potential legalization of magic mushrooms.
“It’s somewhat reminiscent of the early days before cannabis legalization, where there were a lot of outlets, retail outlets, operating – some above board with the full knowledge of police, some not so much.”
He says FunGuyz may have “pushed the envelope a little too far,” by opening too many locations.
“I noticed there were [10]Â in Toronto alone. And that’s seems like a lot to me,” Hathaway said.
“Recognizing that this is a province with a Conservative government… it would be interesting to see if there was any variation by province depending on what government was operating at the time.”
Hathaway says there may be benefits to legalization, especially when it comes to consumer safety.
“Whether you’re talking about club drugs or cannabis or mushrooms, the more underground it is, the less reassurance you get that you’re actually getting what you’re paying for,” he said.