Mushroom dispensary raids and “storefront activism”: 5 Questions for Dana Larsen

Larsen discusses recent police raids on drug dispensaries and the role he sees dispensaries playing in the drug reform movement.

Dana Larsen, born and raised in Vancouver, is a lifelong drug activist.  As a student at Simon Fraser University in the late 80s and early 90s, he started writing letters to members of the Canadian Parliament asking about their stances on drug reform, and he founded a club on campus called the League for Ethical Action on Drugs. Larsen then opened cannabis dispensaries in Vancouver; helped found the Canadian Marijuana Party and the British Columbia Marijuana Party; ran for federal office; and, more recently, opened four Vancouver dispensaries openly selling psilocybin, LSD, DMT, and coca leaves. On November 1, those dispensaries were raided — they were among a string of police raids across the country over the past year. The Microdose spoke with Larsen about the raids and the role he sees his dispensaries playing in the drug reform movement.

What led up to you opening your drug dispensaries?

In the early 1990s, bongs, pipes, High Times magazine, and Cheech and Chong movies were all banned in Canada; we had very strict censorship laws and prohibitions on all types of drug paraphernalia. I met a guy named Marc Emery in Vancouver, and he opened a bong shop, which was one of the first models of storefront activism: you defy the laws by starting a retail business. That’s revolutionary in and of itself because you're providing the services to people in a safe way, but then you can also use that money to further social change. It's a very effective model. Mark went on to sell cannabis seeds and became pretty famous for doing that, but ultimately he was convicted for selling seeds to people in the United States and spent four and a half years in an American prison. 

A few cannabis dispensaries had opened in the nineties, and after about ten years, I saw that although they weren’t secretive, they weren’t super public either. They just did their work to help people get their medicinal cannabis. In 2008, I thought, well, if they've been around for ten years, I could do this also, but in a more open kind of way. Initially we called them Compassion Clubs; we were very transparent and taught others how to open their own in seminars. The first six dispensaries that opened after us got free advice on how to operate. We kickstarted this revolutionary dispensary, and soon there were over 100 dispensaries in the city of Vancouver and dozens more across Canada. I think having all these shops out there openly defying the law was a necessary prerequisite to get to legalization. I've been involved with politics and run for office, I've organized referendum campaigns; I think those will help, but the civil disobedience of opening shops is really the most accessible tactic we’ve adopted. So in 2019, just before COVID, I decided to open a psychedelic dispensary to push things to the next step. Then I helped create the same model I did with cannabis, where we helped others start dispensaries, and now there are around 20 in the city. Ours goes beyond what others are doing, though — we sell not only mushrooms, but also LSD tablets, DMT vape pens, kratom, and coca leaf. 

What happened the day of the raids?

I was at home, and I started getting frantic text messages from some of my staff that they were under arrest. I wasn't sure what was going on at first, but then I realized we were being raided at all three locations. I called my lawyer and he said, “Dana, don't go down there — if you go down, they’re going to arrest you. If you don't go down there, they probably won't come to your house — but you're on that warrant, and if you go to one of the locations, they're going to arrest you. And if they arrest you, they're going to put charges on you, and with those charges will be conditions. And those conditions could be that you can’t go back to your shops, which would make it really difficult for you.” 

But I thought, I can’t not go down there when my staff are being arrested — I’ve got to protect them, I’ve got to be there and represent. So I went to our main shop — the one on Hastings, the one with our coca leaf cafe — and I walked around for a little bit and went live on Facebook. The cops said, “Dana?” and I said yes, and they handcuffed me and put me in the truck, and took me off to the police station. I sat there for seven hours in a little holding cell. The police were as reasonable as can be, but then they tried to persuade me to confess by asking things like, “Well, why do you think you’re here?” Or they’d say things like, “I believe in legalization too — why don’t we talk about that?” I didn’t talk to them, and I asked to go back to my cell, and told them I had the right to remain silent. Luckily, there have been no charges or conditions laid on me, but they still have a year to charge me. And we opened our main shop again the next day, and our other locations a few days later.

In retrospect, I should've been more prepared for a raid. But we’d been operating very openly and transparently for three years. I wasn't really expecting them to come charging in at that point. 

Do you have any insight into why you were raided now, after being open for years?

I believe we're the only mushroom dispensary that's been raided in the city. I’m not really sure. When there were a lot of cannabis dispensaries in the city, I remember the Vancouver police were asked why they weren’t raiding them, and they said something like, ‘Look, it’s around $35,000 to raid one of these shops, and then they open again the next day. And the prosecutors don’t want to bring charges, so nothing comes out of it and it's just not worth the effort.’ It's easier for the city to deal with it through bureaucratic means, like business licenses or going after landlords. I thought they were trying the same strategy with us: we actually have a hearing on December 6th at City Hall about the legal status of our business licenses. We got licenses shortly before we opened for general retail, and at this hearing they’ll decide whether they'll let us keep those licenses or not. 

You’re not the only dispensary that’s been raided — and yours were raided on the heels of a raid of the Drug User Liberation Front, a group that gives away tested supplies of cocaine, heroin, and meth to drug users. Have you had much interaction with these other groups?

The other mushroom dispensaries - some of them I know ,but a lot of them I don’t. I’m the only one who’s in the news as a spokesperson, and willing to put my name and face to it all. The majority of other shops have not talked to reporters and if they do, it’s more anonymous. I do, however, know the DULF founders quite well. I was their biggest donor, and I think they are doing incredible work and I would like to continue that. I’ve been trying to figure out how we can open some kind of heroin club or safe access point. DULF has been around for a while and everyone knew what they were doing and were pretty open about it, but suddenly it’s become a political football and now they’re been raided. 

How much would you estimate you lost in the raids, and what effect will this have on business moving forward?

I would say it was around $100,000. They took all of our products; we had a pretty good stockpile of coca leaves and mushrooms. When you lose all that, you've got to restock. A lot of our suppliers were helpful and brought us extra stuff, even free mushrooms to help us get us going again, but it’s a long process to be just weighing, sorting, and organizing everything coming in. Some of our staff quit; they couldn't handle the pressure, and that's fair enough. 

Ultimately, my goal was to reopen as fast as possible and get going again, but it’s certainly very challenging. We're still struggling and it's going to take a few more months at least, to rebuild ourselves again. And there could be more to come: our lawyer says they might try to seize the buildings we're in from our landlords. 

Part of our proceeds help run the Get Your Drugs Tested program here in Vancouver. Currently, we do about two-thirds of all the drug testing in British Columbia. We get no government funding at all, and that costs us over $1,000 a day to keep that place going, and we’re planning to expand to a second location. So now we're certainly trying to batten down the hatches, and to keep things in such a way that if they do come back again, they won't be able to take so much. We'll be better prepared.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.