Canada Day Tripping & What Psychedelics the 5 of Us Enjoying Today

Happy Canada Day!

As we emerge from the turtle shell of isolation, connection and socialization is exceptionally important and not always easy to do from 6+ feet away. Part of returning to “normalcy” requires a reframing what normal is and what we can do for ourselves to cope in a world that is, quite frankly, abnormal. 

Canada Day means time outdoors, with friends, and food, and maybe a seat for the fireworks show. This year, it seems like we all have a modified version of this. 

For instance, I’ll be in my garden with my four Puppy Dog OG plants, eight of my Nonno’s tomato plants, and my real live puppy dog, Duke. Add in a few of the legal cannabis products I’ve been trying out lately, and you’ve got my Canada Day weekend. Our Alex says he’ll be doing something similar. It’s taken me a while to come around to testing the products available on the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) website, or at local stores—there are many in Ontario right now. According to Bloomberg, I’m having the same brand discovery and loyalty problems as the rest of the country. I’m such a Canadian!

Remember when some of us thought cannabis would be legalized on Canada Day 2018? Good times.

On a more serious note, the ways we are choosing to spend this weekend have a lot to do with maintaining our mental health through connections to nature and self. According to the World Health Organization, depression is the leading global cause of disability, affecting more than 322 million people. In Canada, we have seen a spike in opioid-related overdoses and deaths during this period of isolation. One of the more interesting articles I read this week talks about where disorders like depression and OCD could come from and how psychedelic medicines, such as psilocybin, can help.

What Psychedelics Are We Taking Canada Day 2020?

It doesn’t take legalization to make mental health through psychedelics a part of one’s life, at least in Canada. A few members of the Alan Aldous team are taking the chance to connect to nature and self over the Canada Day weekend, aided in part by classic psychedelics.

Connor’s annual tradition involves a bunch of tabs of acid, some tubes, and then floating down a river for a few hours. “Your classic turn on, tune in, drop out,” says Connor. Patrick plans on making a connection with a tree this year. “I always like to eat some mushrooms, head into a forest of some kind, and climb a tree. For the last two years or so, I’ve only been using shrooms as a microdose mechanism, but I just got gifted some A+ shrooms so I’m going for my first full trip in a while and will try and find a tall tree.” As for Harrison, he thinks mushrooms taking while watching fireworks is the ideal Canada Day combo.

Happy Canada Day (or Fourth of July)!

The five of us are so lucky to be born in Canada where opening a communications firm centered on cannabis and psychedelics is possible, and where a client like Therapsil can appeal to Health Minister Patty Hajdu to grant him legal access to psilocybin for compassionate reasons. We don’t take this luck for granted.

We truly hope our friends have a sunny and safe Canada Day and the Fourth of July! Take care of your selves and we hope to hear about your next trip soon.

Next week, we have a special entry from our own Alex Krause based on his contribution to the July NORML Canada newsletter. In it, Alex outlines several ways that the COVID-19 pandemic affected cannabis reform in Canada and introduces the latest initiative by Alan Aldous—we can’t wait to share the news.