In February 2020, CTV News reported on a growing movement in Canada to allow psilocybin for medical use, starting with people at the end of their lives.
Exemptions via section 56
Canadian law allows the health minister to grant individual exemptions from the drug law under section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The non-profit TheraPsil helped patients with terminal illnesses apply for such an exemption so they could receive psilocybin-assisted therapy legally.
What happened next
Later in 2020, Health Canada granted the first exemptions. In the following years more patients and organisations received permission, and in 2022 the Special Access Program was opened to requests for psilocybin. The substance itself remains illegal outside these routes.
Why it matters
The Canadian cases show a shift from treating psilocybin purely as a drug problem to studying it carefully as a possible treatment under medical supervision.
Source: CTV News: The growing push for medical use of psilocybin in Canada (15 February 2020). Summarised in our own words.
This article is for general information only and is not medical or legal advice. Laws differ by country and change over time; check the rules where you live.
