WASAGA BEACH SHUTS DOWN MAGIC MUSHROOM RETAIL STORE

Wasaga Beach officials have shuttered a store selling magic mushrooms, and warned commercial property owners not to consider leasing to similar businesses.

Fun Guyz opened May 12, selling products labelled as medicinal magic mushrooms.

Magic mushrooms, which contain the hallucinogens psilocybin and psilocin, are a Schedule 3 drug under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). Their sale, distribution, possession and production is illegal in Canada, unless authorized by Health Canada.

According to the town, about a week after it opened, the municipal bylaw enforcement department became aware of the business and notified the OPP.

On May 26, bylaw officers visited the establishment and issued orders to cease operations and immediately discontinue the business activity occurring on the premises. A notice posted in the window of the store from the town's development services business unit general manager, Danny Rodgers, orders the business to cease on the basis of being in contravention of the business licensing bylaw.

The store, along with selling an illegal product, did not have a business licence. Owner Edgars Gorbans acknowledged in an earlier interview with Simcoe.com that he did not have a business licence.

Gorbans has not responded to a request for further comment.

The notice from the town warns the owners that carrying on business in contravention of the bylaw "is a continuing offence and each day shall constitute a new and separate offence."

On May 30, bylaw officers enforced the order and closed the business down. The town's director of communications and intergovernmental affairs, Sandra Watts, stated no charges have been laid. She also indicated that, although the business had ceased operation, "our municipal law enforcement department continues to contemplate next steps."

In a statement released late on May 30, Mayor Brian Smith said the municipality has "a duty to protect our residents and our business community.

"That is exactly what we have done," he stated.

Smith cautioned that commercial property owners may be approached by a business "in the coming days ... seeking to reopen and conduct illegal business activity.

"Let this be a warning. The town will continue to exercise a zero-tolerance policy for any type of illegal business activity."