mushrooms for all!

The mighty Cecil Adams answers a question about psilocybe semilanceata, specifically if drying the specimen has any effect (answer: no. Cecil's answer a little longer winded, but the same). Mr. Adams adds:

The Straight Dope: Is it dangerous to eat magic mushrooms before they have dried out? What mushrooms are safe to eat? ... Just about the only drawback of magic mushrooms, in fact, is that they're against the law.

Well, perhaps not all circumstances are equally as friendly to consumption of psilocybin. I wouldn't suggest eating a handful before corporate job interviews, for instance. Cecil goes on:

Psilocybin has a low level of toxicity and overdoses are rare. One 18-year-old male in Hawaii was thought to have died from a psilocybin OD in 1972, but later investigation has cast doubt on that belief. A 2000 study in the Netherlands found that (a) no physical or psychological dependency was associated with mushrooms, (b) adverse short-term effects consisted mainly of panic and anxiety attacks, and (c) long-term effects were limited to mild flashbacks. Even the U.S. Department of Justice admits that 'shrooms aren't physically addictive.....

... in the UK, where psychoactive fungi used to be legal provided they weren't prepared, preparation generally being interpreted to include drying, freezing, or making into tea. That changed when the Drugs Act of 2005 made it an offense to knowingly possess, grow, or trade magic mushrooms, fresh or otherwise. (Exceptions for accidental picking and growing remain.) Magic mushrooms aren't illegal by name under federal law in the U.S., but their active chemicals are, meaning as a practical matter that they're illegal to buy, sell, grow, or merely possess. Spore kits, which enable the purchaser to grow mushrooms at home, fall in a gray area — though spores don't actually contain the proscribed chemicals, some states have made possession and/or cultivation of them a crime too.

(more on new psychoactive research here and here)

Tags: drugs