TheraPsil’s
Charter Challenge 2022
Legalize Therapeutic Psilocybin in Canada
Patients in medical need of psilocybin and psilocybin therapy are having their section 7 charter rights violated.
Canadians in medical need do not have safe, legal, equitable or timely access to medical psilocybin and psilocybin therapy. This urgently needs to change.
To solve this, patients are taking the federal government to court.
Join the fight
We’re urgently raising $100k to fund the first stages of this charter challenge, and cover patient's legal costs.
Please help Canadians in medical need by donating to our legal challenge today.
Together we can change out-dated drug policy and expand treatment options for Canadians.
Here’s our reasoning:
Section 7 of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees that all Canadians have the rights to “life, liberty and security of person”.
Canadian courts have ruled in two landmark cannabis cases that the absolute prohibition of cannabis by the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) contravenes section 7:
“Liberty includes the right to make decisions of fundamental personal importance, including the choice of medication to alleviate the effects of an illness with life-threatening consequences ... Deprivation by means of a criminal sanction of access to medication reasonably required for the treatment of a medical condition that threatens life or health also constitutes a deprivation of security of the person.”
R. v Parker, Ontario Court of Appeal, 2000
The prohibition on possession of … of medical marihuana limits the s. 7 Charter right to liberty of the person in two ways. First, the prohibition deprives … medical marihuana users of their liberty by imposing a threat of imprisonment on conviction ... Second, it limits the liberty of medical users by foreclosing reasonable medical choices through the threat of criminal prosecution. Similarly, by forcing a person to choose between a legal but inadequate treatment and an illegal but more effective one, the law also infringes security of the person.”
R. v. Smith, Supreme Court of Canada, 2015
These rulings compelled the federal government to amend the CDSA to allow for the medical use of cannabis. The decision to use cannabis medically is now made between patient and doctor, with no requirement for bureaucratic approval.
Psilocybin, like medical cannabis, represents a reasonable medical choice, and a more effective treatment for many patients suffering from anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance misuse and end-of-life distress. Such patients are entitled to compassionate care because all other medical alternatives have proved inadequate.
The current CDSA limits the liberty of patients needing psilocybin just like it did for cannabis: it forecloses a reasonable medical choice through the threat of criminal prosecution. Similarly, by forcing a patient to choose between a legal but inadequate treatment and an illegal but more effective one, the law also infringes on security of person for the psilocybin patient. The law must be changed to bring it into conformity with the Charter: the decision to use psilocybin medically will be made between doctor and patient; patients will no longer have to go cap-in-hand to a government bureaucrat.
Canadians are being denied psilocybin medicine because of outdated, unnecessary and unconstitutional laws which violate their Charter rights. Patients are taking the government to court, and we are supporting them every step of the way. Our legal challenge will follow the steps above, which paved the way for federal medical cannabis legalization. We will challenge the very same laws and show that psilocybin, like cannabis, is medicine, and patients deserve safe, equitable, legal and timely access.
Our Regulatory Goal
The Patients / Plaintiffs
Thomas Hartle is a 54 year old husband, father, and IT professional who has been dealing with stage 4 colon cancer since 2016. Faced with the typical outcome of stage 4 cancer, Thomas experienced a debilitating amount of anxiety over his future and that of his family. In August of 2020, Thomas became the first Canadian to legally receive psilocybin assisted psychotherapy. Psilocybin is the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, and studies have shown great promise in many areas of mental health, including end of life anxiety. Since that time, he has experienced a substantial improvement in both his emotional wellbeing, and in his overall ability to once again enjoy the time he has with his family. He is currently waiting for a renewal of his section 56 exemption so he can continue accessing this therapy. While he waits, he is a passionate advocate for psilocybin therapy and shares his story as part of his advocacy.
Jane Harrison
Jim Doswell
I am a 65-year-old woman with Stage IV breast cancer that has metastasized to my bones and one lung. In January of 2022, I was told I had two years to live. Learning of my diagnosis threw me into a panic that has only been alleviated by the promise of psilocybin. While I am doing everything I can do to maximize the potential for remission of my disease, I am only too aware that the odds are against me, and I want to be so reconciled to the fact of my death as to have equanimity regarding whether I live for another two years or twenty.
This is what the psilocybin experience promises and I am impatient to partake in it and return my focus to life and living. Apart from alleviating anxiety about death and dying, psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy has the potential to help me release suppressed emotion, increase positive emotion, and deepen my spiritual connection, three factors that have been identified as fundamental to reported cases of the remission of multiple terminal diseases, including cancer. Possibly life-extending calm in the face of death: why would my government deny me that? Particularly as the drug in question is one of the least harmful substances known to man, demonstrably less harmful than unregulated addictive substances such as caffeine and sugar.
Legislation based on irrational, ideologically, politically, or commercially driven motives does not deserve to stay on the books, particularly where it impedes access to life-enhancing and potentially life-saving therapy. For these reasons, I am proud to add my name to this case.
The Lawyers
The legal team is composed of some of the same top-tier lawyers who successfully fought for Canadians’ rights to medical cannabis.
Paul Lewin
David Wood is a lawyer and patent agent, and holds a PhD in structural biochemistry. David has extensive regulatory and intellectual property experience with psychedelics and cannabis. David also has significant experience with patent litigation for other industries, and the associated Federal Court practice. David splits his professional time between an inhouse position at Psygen Industries Ltd. and his solo-practice, R-Group Legal. Through R-Group Legal, David supports TheraPsil on a pro bono basis, including a significant contribution on TheraPsil’s proposed Access to Psilocybin for Medical Purposes Regulations under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
David is committed to psilocybin products being made available to Canadians for medical use, consistent with the CDSA and Canada’s commitments under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 and related United Nations conventions. He supports TheraPsil’s proposed APMPR as a cost-effective, accessible and responsible approach to helping the greatest number of Canadians, as soon as possible, and at the lowest possible cost.
Jack Lloyd, Barrister & Solicitor is a cannabis lawyer practicing across Canada excluding Quebec. He articled with Lewin & Sagara LLP, a cannabis law firm in Toronto. After finishing articling he joined Tousaw Law Corporation where he worked as an Associate until the firm closed in 2018 at which time he began Lloyd Law Professional Corporation where he is now the principal lawyer. Tousaw Law Corporation was Canada’s foremost cannabis litigation boutique and was the firm responsible for R v Smith 2015 SCC 34 which was the per curiam decision from the Supreme Court of Canada which legalized cannabis edibles (and other extracts and derivative medicines) for medical cannabis patients in Canada. His practice consists primarily of criminal and constitutional litigation relating to medical cannabis regulation as well as consultancy work relating to the cannabis industry. He has appeared at all levels of court in Ontario and British Columbia, as well as the Supreme Court of Canada, always in relation to cannabis.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, he was the editor at Green Candy Press, the world’s largest publisher of books about the cannabis plant. He continues to edit select titles for Green Candy Press, including an update to Greg Green’s seminal book on cannabis genetics, The Cannabis Breeder’s Bible, as well as several cannabis cookbooks, including The Ganja Kitchen Revolution and Marijuana Chef Cookbook. He is also the editor of The Psilocybin Mushroom Bible and the Psilocybin Chef Cookbook. He is the President of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Canada (NORML Canada) where he advocates for sensible regulations concerning cannabis in Canada.
Nicholas is an Ottawa-based human rights lawyer practicing primarily administrative law and civil litigation. He aims to use the law as a tool for systemic change to help those societal powers have marginalized, including individuals forced to suffer unnecessarily due to the unmerited stigma against psilocybin.
Emily is a litigator practicing in Calgary, Alberta. She gained knowledge on the failures of our legal system, and the possibilities for the practical regulation of drugs, during time spent working at the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. She now employs the intersection of her legal and drug policy knowledge to help TheraPsil in its fight to improve access to psilocybin for Canadians in need.
Harrison Jordan
Learn more about TheraPsil’s successful advocacy
