The owner of the Psychedelic Healing Shack, a spiritual and wellness center that was raided by Detroit police last year, has put his Woodward Avenue property up for sale.
Robert Pizzimenti, known to many as Dr. Bob, says the move is not because he wants to leave but in protest of what he describes as relentless harassment by the city.
He says he’s asking $600,000 for the property, even though it’s valued at closer to $350,000. He insists he’s not eager to sell but feels forced to after what he describes as years of fines, red tape, and aggressive enforcement tactics by the city.
“It’s kind of a protest,” Pizzimenti tells Metro Times. “I don’t want to sell, but the city is giving me a hard time.”
When a Metro Times reporter visited the building on Monday, a handmade sign was placed in the front yard reading “FOR SALE” with a frowning face scrawled on it.
The city forced Pizzimenti to close the building in September, when police raided the site with guns drawn and confiscated psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana. Pizzimenti says the mushrooms were used for religious and healing purposes under the protections of Sugarleaf Church, a spiritual group that considers entheogens sacred.
In 2021, Detroit voters decriminalized so-called “magic mushrooms” and other plants. The city says the new decriminalization law doesn’t mean the plants and substances can be sold.
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