“Egregious Violation of the Law” – Winnipeg Free Press

There was no magic escape from prosecution for an Ottawa woman who was arrested last spring after opening an Osborne Village store selling illegal psychedelic mushrooms.

Hosnia Qazi, 38, was one of two people charged with possession of drugs with intent to sell drugs six days after Magic Mush opened on Osborne Village Lane last May.

Qazi, an Ontario real estate agent who ran the store with her boyfriend, Damien Hiebert, asked for a severance package that would have spared her a conviction, but was instead given a suspended nine-month house arrest sentence.

“This was a flagrant violation of the law,” Provincial Court Judge Sam Raposo said Wednesday. “A shop selling illegal drugs was opened. The drug had no protection, and the business was created to make a profit.”

Psilocybin is the active chemical compound in magic mushrooms. It is classified as a Schedule III substance under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

It is illegal to manufacture, sell and possess unless authorized by Health Canada. Some exemptions were made for people with mental health disorders, among other reasons.

The court was told that undercover police officers visited and bought Magic Mush twice shortly after it opened. In no case was the officer asked for identification or offered advice or product information, said Crown attorney Dan Manning.

When one officer asked Qazi if he could recommend a certain product for his girlfriend's anxiety problem or if she needed a doctor's note, he said, “No, not now. We are not taking any prescriptions because we have just opened and we are now trying to take the temperature of the police.”

Although the store offered different “strains” of the mushroom, “it was all the same,” Manning said.

The store has been doing “pink business” during its short hours, he said, with listings on the block.

“The problem is, we don't know where these mushrooms come from. We don't know if they were safe. We don't know anything about them.”– Crown attorney Dan Manning

Unlike the early litigious marijuana dispensary cases where many operators sold to prescription or health and wellness buyers, Magic Mush “was a purely commercial enterprise,” lacking in quality. Control and used packaging to resemble legally sold cannabis, Manning said.

“The problem is, we don't know where these mushrooms come from. We don't know if they are safe or not. We don't know anything about them,” he said.

Kazi and Hiebert's attorney at the time, Jamie Kagan, before police raided the store on May 19. Free Click the button: “There are many issues in Winnipeg that need police attention. A business that sells a product that people want and can carefully consume shouldn't be in their sights.”

In another media interview, Kagan described the sale of magic mushrooms as a “legal gray area,” the court heard.

The judge told Qazi: “To your detriment, you seem to have relied on the advice of your former lawyer … to show that the sale of magic mushrooms was somehow a gray area in the law.” “It was terrible advice.”

Qazi's current attorney, Jack Lloyd, told the court police planned to give Qazi and Hiebert a notice to close the store, but after Kagan told the media the store would reopen if it was raided, the police did just that.

Police seized 39 bags of mushrooms weighing 13 grams, as well as empty mushrooms, capsules and edibles, and $3,700 in cash from the store. Police searched the Waterfront Drive home where Kazi and Hiebert lived and seized more mushrooms, packaging materials, report sheets and $13,000 in cash.

The court heard Hiebert died of a fentanyl overdose before he was charged. Lloyd told Kazi that Hiebert, who was the main driver of the operation, was emotionally and physically abusive.

Lloyd said, “Kazi was dragged away by a bad guy.”

“He is not interested in further disrupting this public order that violates the law,” he said.

Manning said he had no doubt that Qazi had been deterred from further involvement in the crime, but said it was not in the public interest to be exempt from criminal charges, as the defense suggested.

Qazi “took a calculated risk” that he might not be charged and, if he was, the Crown might not prosecute him or offer him release, Manning said.

“These risks are against the background of a very profitable business opportunity,” he said. Leaking… someone said, “Guess what?” It allows these calculated risks. Manitoba is open for business.”

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Dean Pritchard
Court reporter

He once said that a journalist is a well-dressed reporter. Dean Pritchard doesn't have a good suit. But he knows a good case law.

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