Wiz Khalifa has teamed up with Canadian company Red Light Holland to launch Mistercap, a new naturally occurring psilocybin and mushroom wellness brand.
The publicly-traded Ontario, Canada-based company already produces, grows and sells psychedelics in the Netherlands, which has one of the most liberal drug policies of any country in Europe. The Grammy-nominated rapper, who previously went by the moniker “Mr. Cap,” is working with Red Light Holland on magic truffles in the Netherlands, and they’re aiming to launch home-grown natural (non-psychedelic) mushroom kits in the U.S., Europe and Canada by the end of the year.
“We’ve been working with Wiz Khalifa and his team to collaborate and create a brand that encompasses our joint belief for the affordable and equitable access to naturally occurring psilocybin responsibly,” said Red Light Holland CEO/director Todd Shapiro in a statement. He added that they “will monitor future potential markets, if and when regulations legally permit, to expand the availability” of the psychedelic product line and “will continue to work towards producing additional functional mushroom products jointly under the MISTERCAP brand.”
Shapiro said that Khalifa’s influence makes him “uniquely positioned to help us spread the message and end the stigma surrounding psilocybin while focusing on mental health and wellness.”
The sale of psilocybin — a naturally occurring psychedelic which is the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms” — is currently illegal under federal law in the U.S. and Canada, though it was recently decriminalized statewide in Oregon as well as in the District of Columbia and several municipalities in California, Washington, Colorado, Michigan and Massachusetts. In Europe, psilocybin is legal for sale only in the Netherlands, though other European countries, including Austria, Portugal, Spain and the Czech Republic, have decriminalized possession of magic mushrooms.
In spite of widespread restrictions on psilocybin globally, Khalifa and Red Light Holland are clearly hoping that the current push to decriminalize the drug in various countries, including the U.S., will expand the market for their psychedelic product line over time. And by selling non-psychedelic grow kits, they’re evidently aiming to build up their customer database in the meantime.
There’s reason for optimism. In addition to the successful push for decriminalization in the aforementioned U.S. states and municipalities, another federally-banned drug, cannabis, is now fully legal for recreational use in roughly half of U.S. states, the District of Columbia and multiple territories, while around a dozen others have allowed it for medical use. In Canada, cannabis is legal on the federal level for recreational use, while many countries in Europe have also legalized or decriminalized the drug recreationally. In the wake of these successful legalization efforts, a number of celebrity-branded cannabis products have flooded the market, including from Lil Wayne (GKUA Ultra Premium), Willie Nelson (Willie’s Reserve), Snoop Dogg (Leafs by Snoop) and Khalifa’s own Khalifa Kush cannabis line, which he’s run since 2014.
“Launching Mistercap Magic Truffles in the Netherlands and creating other Mistercap natural mushroom products and Home Grow kits is gonna be dope,” said Khalifa in a statement. “We are building something special and are excited to grow with the industry.”
Brad J. Lamb, chairman of the board of directors of Red Light Holland, added, “Genuine brand recognition and celebrity social media reach will help Red Light Holland gain global awareness for recreational psilocybin as we all look forward to being a part of a positive change and ending stigmas. Red Light will also continue to focus on increasing revenues with many different kinds of mushrooms, from farming, distribution to consumer-packaged goods, creating a well-positioned company with a continued, constant and clever growth strategy.”