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Magic mushrooms dispensary is having their moment. With progressive cities like Eugene opening psilocybin service centers and researchers suggesting the hallucinogen could ease PTSD, depression and end-of-life dread in humans, it seems as though psychedelics are poised to join cannabis’ long journey from fringe drug to mainstream medicine.

But while weed is consumed by more than half of the country, mushrooms remain a relatively rare drug, even among the counterculture crowd. In fact, the most recent statistics show that fewer than 1 percent of Americans have reported trying a psychedelic (that’s psilocybin, LSD, peyote and MDMA) in the last year.

Psychedelic Healing: How Magic Mushrooms Are Used Therapeutically

And that’s why Dana Larsen is rethinking his business model. His gray exterior belies a mosaic of psychedelia inside, including paintings of Incan gods spewing fire and lightning and shelves stocked with hemp lip balms and stoner-centric comic books.

Larsen has been selling mushrooms since 2020, and he’s recently opened two more stores in Vancouver based on customer demand. But he’s still technically selling illegal drugs, and his stores are a target for police raids.

His solution is to sell “Amanita muscaria,” the strain of mushroom commonly known as “magic mushrooms.” He says that by calling his products Amanita, he can circumvent legal boundaries, because it’s not psilocybin — which carries the label of Schedule I under federal law — that’s being sold. He also cooks and treats his mushrooms to reduce their toxicity, and sells them in capsules, gummies, and powders. He also offers mycology growth kits that allow customers to grow their own psilocybin-rich mushrooms at home.