Federal court rules Health Canada decision to block experiential psilocybin training was unreasonable

The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that Health Canada's refusal to allow exemptions for health-care workers to use psilocybin as part of their experiential training was unreasonable.

Wednesday's decision was the result of an appeal of a 2022 judicial review application in a case involving 96 health-care practitioners who sought an exemption to legally use dried hallucinogenic mushrooms as part of what is known as experiential training.

The initial application for exemption was filed under the name of Jeff Toth, a Nova Scotia nurse practitioner.

Health Canada's refusal of the health-care workers' requests for exemptions has been sent back to Health Minister Marjorie Michel for redetermination.

The mushrooms, commonly called magic mushrooms, contain psychoactive substances that are only legal for use in Canada if an exemption is granted under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). Such exemptions are reserved for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, which involves medically supervised consumption of the substance for the treatment of serious medical conditions including end-of-life distress or treatment-resistant depression.

Late Wednesday, the federal court ruled that Health Canada's reasons for refusing to grant exemptions to the 96 health workers training to administer psilocybin were too arbitrary.

John Gilchrist, communications director for TheraPsil, a Canadian non-profit organization that advocates for legal access to psychedelic therapy, was "elated" with this week's decision, which he called a "very long time coming."

Gilchrist hopes this leads the current health minister to open up access to therapies by training more professionals who can help treat patients with debilitating migraines or depression. He says Health Canada's refusal to grant the exemptions is "harming health-care professionals and, very importantly, patients who are the most vulnerable in Canada."

The Federal Court of Appeal's decision noted that Health Canada changed its position on psilocybin exemptions between 2020 and 2022 with no clear explanation. In 2020, then Health Minister Patty Hajdu granted exemptions to 19 health-care practitioners.

This was reversed in 2022 under Carolyn Bennett, the then minister of mental health and addictions and the associate minister of health.

"Health Canada is not aware of peer-reviewed clinical evidence to demonstrate that health-care professionals need to take a psychedelic drug in order to appreciate what the patient experiences," the ministry is quoted as saying in the federal court decision this week.

But Federal Court of Appeal Justice Douglas Rennie wrote in his decision Wednesday that "nearly identical exemption requests" were granted in one case and denied arbitrarily in the other.

"The Minister can't make such a significant and abrupt shift without explanation," he wrote.

WATCH | Psychotherapist explains what a medical magic mushroom trip will look like:

Health Canada has approved a study with 20 Londoners who suffer from PTSD to experience therapy under the influence of psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms. Psychotherapist Jared Dalton will oversee the therapy. He explains how it will work.

Ottawa lawyer Nicholas Pope says this is the latest in legal wins that will help open up access to psychedelic treatments.

Pope, lawyer for the appellants, said the health-care workers were approved in 2020, then denied based on a lack of scientific evidence of efficacy.

"Health Canada didn't demand that level of evidence in 2020 and now is demanding it," he said.

In May 2024, a Calgary man named Jody Lance who suffers debilitating cluster headaches was the first to win a Federal Court battle forcing Health Canada to reconsider his bid for legal access to psilocybin to treat his extreme pain.

His case was withdrawn after he got approval for an exemption this year.

Requests to access controlled substances in special medical circumstances are filed through Health Canada's Special Access Program (SAP).

Lance's initial application under the SAP to help treat his pain was denied due to lack of research into the efficacy of psilocybin to treat cluster headaches.

Canadians have had limited legal access to psilocybin under the SAP since 2022. Health Canada approved 56 SAP requests in 2022, 106 in 2023 and 85 as of October 2024.

CBC News requested more current data and a response to the recent ruling from Health Canada, but did not hear back in time for publication.