Magic Mushrooms

Magic Mushrooms, Shrooms, Mushies, Liberty Caps, Fly-agaric

A raw fungus, as a drink or cooked into food

Ingestion

The effects of mushrooms are similar to those of LSD and depend largely on the users environment and mood to determine the good/bad nature of the trip. Physical effects are not as prominent as the psychological effects and include signs of arousal such as increased heart rate and blood pressure and also dilated pupils. Effects are felt within about half an hour and can last for up to nine hours depending on the amount taken. Low doses (2-4 mushrooms) produce feelings of being stoned such as relaxation and euphoria. At higher doses (up to 20+ mushrooms) hallucinations are experienced and distortions of colour and sound. A magic mushroom ‘trip’ tends to last about 4-6 hours.

Bad effects include those associated with unpleasant trips including anxiety, fear, panic attacks and paranoia. The greatest dangers are having accidents whilst stoned or by eating one of the poisonous varieties of mushroom by mistake. It would take a very large amount of liberty caps or fly agaric to overdose.

Tolerance to the effects of magic mushrooms develops quickly and may need several days of abstinence to restore back to normal levels. There is no physical dependence or withdrawal symptoms however some people may become psychologically dependent and feel the desire to use on a regular basis.

Until recently, the sale of fresh magic mushrooms was legal due to a loophole in the law. The Drugs Bill 2005 has now closed this loophole.

Magic mushrooms contain psilocybin and psilocin and under the Misuse of Drugs Act these hallucinogenic chemicals are class A drugs like heroin, crack and cocaine. The new bill will class fresh magic mushrooms as a "preparation" of psilocin or psilocybin, and therefore possession of magic mushrooms (fresh and prepared) is now illegal.