"If It Works I Will Use It"

"This is the landmark case that is going to legalize psychedelics in Canada."

"The hoops that patients with cancer need to jump through to get access to their medicine is barbaric."

"For two years, we've done absolutely everything in our power to play nicely with the government. If we get this, nobody in Canada will ever have to go to court again for access to psilocybin. No more people will be dying waiting for access. This is what we've been working toward."

"The outright prohibition of psilocybin is against our Charter and that was made evident with cannabis."

Spencer Hawkswell, CEO, TheraPsil

"If it works, I will use it."

"That's my whole litmus test. Cannabis, I felt, was a very effective tool. I believe that psilocybin will also be an effective tool."

"I have had anxiety for so long, I had sort of forgotten what it feels like to not have it."

"To experience the lack of anxiety I have had this week is beyond words [2020]. It's amazing. I have no idea how long this particular benefit will last, but so long as it's here, it's really, really amazing and good."

Thomas Hartle, stage four cancer patient

Psilocybin can be extracted from psychedelic mushrooms and then processed into pill form. (Camille Vernet/Radio-Canada)

 

IT professional from Saskatoon, Thomas Hartle. shortly following being diagnosed with cancer became a medical cannabis consumer at age 46. Now, he is among a group of eight Canadians who have filed a challenge against the Government of Canada and the minister of health for denying them access to magic mushrooms, psilocybin. The group is comprised of seven patients and a health-care practitioner.

Their Charter-based argument is that current modes of accessing psilocybin fail their needs -- thus representing a violation of Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, guaranteeing the right to life, liberty and security of the person. The situation has a parallel in the landmark court case, R v Parker whose outcome led to the first medical cannabis laws in Canada.

The current challenge sees support from a British Columbia based non-profit, TheraPsil, whose fundraising covers legal fees. Their support of the plaintiffs has also extended toward aiding them in securing legal access to psilocybin. Their Charter challenge argues that the three existing pathways to legal access of psilocybin for medical purposes fail to adequately serve patients' needs.

The three pathways -- obtaining a personal exemption from the Minister of Health under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act; working with a doctor to obtain an authorization through a Special Access Program; or enrolling in a clinical trial, are all cumbersome, time-consuming and give no guarantees of success. 

Hartle was granted the CDSA exemption for one year on Aug. 2020. Photo by Michelle Berg /Saskatoon StarPhoenix

 

Mr. Hartle's experience with the use of the existing protocols itself, proves the point. With guidance from TheraPsil, Hartle applied for the exemption in 2020 and by August the exemption for a one-year period was granted, enabling Hartle to undergo psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, becoming the first person in Canada to legally use psilocybin for medical purposes. This resulted in a significant decrease in his distress and anxiety, with no side effects typical of pharmaceuticals.

Then the exemption expired, just as his cancer spread throughout his abdominal cavity. The months of relief he experienced following psilocybin therapy sessions have evaporated. Since his exemption period expired, he no longer can access psilocybin. In October of 2021 he submitted an application for a n extension of the exemption, and to the present there has been no response.

As for the other plaintiffs wishing to pursue psilocybin therapy, they have been forced to do so illegally after having been denied exemptions, or having had to wait for over a year with no response to their applications. Several of whom also bear terminal cancer diagnoses; others suffer major depression disorder, anxiety and addiction. One plaintiff suffered four separate bouts of sepsis and lives in constant pain.

The CEO of TheraPsil notes that his non-profit has been overwhelmed by applications over the past two years from Canadians needing help in accessing medical care. Their wait list stands at over 800 patients. To manage the situation they have focused mostly on patients with terminal cancer. Their statement of claim sent to Health Canada argues a framework for constitutionally viable access to psilocybin exists within the cannabis law.

In 2020 an Ontario court agreed that the prohibition of cannabis by the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act contravenes section 7 of the Charter, leading to the creation of Canada's first medical cannabis laws. The belief is that the current Charter challenge should logically be channeled in a similar pathway. "This is a near replica of Parker. The outright prohibition of psilocybin is against our Charter and that was made evident with cannabis", points out Hawkswell.

Some health-care providers are treating certain mental health conditions with psilocybin, an active ingredient in magic mushrooms, in a clinical setting as part of more traditional psychotherapy. Other drugs could include ketamine, LSD or MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy. (Richard Vogel/The Associated Press)