BC-based Optimi Health has grown its first psilocybin mushroom crop at its Health Canada-licensed facility in Princeton, BC, positioning itself as a major player in the growing psychedelic industry.
The $ 14 million company consists of two 10,000-square-foot facilities with a combined total of 10 growing rooms that can produce about 2,000 pounds of dried psilocybin mushrooms a month, according to Optimi’s chief grower, Todd. Henderson.
“[It’s] a phenomenal scale … There is no one else in the world doing what [we’re] doing it here now, “Henderson said.
“Thousands of years ago, the Chinese and the Indians were using this to solve all kinds of problems on their own and here it is thousands of years later, we are going back to that.”
Todd Henderson is in charge of growing psychedelic mushrooms for Optimi Health at its Princeton, BC growing facility. (Curtis Allen / CBC)
Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly referred to as magic mushrooms, are a controlled substance in Canada, so it is illegal to grow, own or sell them unless authorized by Health Canada.
“It’s amazing to see what research is showing”
This month, the agency granted Optimi a license to produce mushrooms, as well as a research exemption to extract the psychedelic components of psilocybin and psilocin for use in clinical trials, according to the company.
Optimi says its facilities are built to meet the requirements of good manufacturing practice (GMP), a quality assurance standard required by Health Canada to produce psilocybin for clinical research.
“We are the only GMP organic facility in the world that can supply what we do. We have worldwide contacts for people who want to research with psilocybin,” said Leigh Grant, chief operating officer of Optimum Health.
The idea to build the facility arose from a desire to explore the medicinal benefits of natural products, said Bryan Safarik, chief operating officer.
Researchers are conducting clinical trials on psilocybin, the main psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms. (Curtis Allen / CBC)
“It simply came to our notice then [of psilocybin mushrooms] and where could all this go, “Safarik said.
Canadian businessman Chip Wilson, who founded Lululemon, is an advisor to the company and his son, JJ Wilson, is the chairman of the board of Optimi.
The company is also growing unregulated varieties of mushrooms, such as lion hair and chaga mushrooms, which are commonly found in health food stores.
Therapeutic benefits
The main product is still psychedelic mushrooms, of which Optimi expects to position itself as the leading supplier in the global medical grade psilocybin market.
In recent years, scientists have been studying the therapeutic benefits of psychedelic mushrooms to treat everything from addiction to end-of-life anxiety relief for terminally ill patients.
University of British Columbia psychology professor Zach Walsh has been researching psilocybin for the past decade, including a recent study on the microdose of the compound where people took small repeated doses of mushrooms to treat depression and anxiety.
“There is growing evidence that psilocybin can help treat treatment-resistant depression as effectively or perhaps even more effectively than traditional antidepressants,” Walsh said.
“People have mystical experiences with psilocybin … Depression can be a loss of meaning in life and a loss of sense of purpose, so having these profound experiences can revitalize people.”
In January, Health Canada restored aspects of its “Special Access Program,” which had been significantly modified under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2013, allowing doctors to apply for access to restricted drugs such as psilocybin. to treat patients with mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.