Magic mushrooms

What are Magic Mushrooms?

Magic mushrooms are varieties of wild mushroom which can be eaten for a hallucinogenic effect similar to, but milder than, that induced by LSD. Known sometimes as ’shrooms or mushies, they are eaten raw, dried or cooked, or they can be stewed into a tea.

Facts and figures

• When dried or stewed, magic mushrooms are Class A drugs, but it is not illegal to possess them raw.
• The main variety of magic mushroom is Psilocybe Semilanceata, commonly known as the Liberty Cap.
• Magic mushrooms look very much like other mushrooms which grow wild in the UK.

What magic mushrooms do

• Eating magic mushrooms has a hallucinogenic effect which lasts around 4 hours and is less powerful than that induced by LSD. As they hallucinate, users will perceive their surroundings in a very altered way: objects, sound and colour will be strangely distorted.
• Whilst under the influence, the user is likely to feel very relaxed and ‘spacey’, but, as with LSD, the effect can depend on their mood and surroundings.
• If a user has a bad trip this can be very frightening and it cannot be stopped.

Dangers and health risks

• The greatest danger of eating magic mushrooms is the potentially fatal risk of confusing them with poisonous species which look very similar.
• Users may experience stomach pains, sickness and diarrhoea after eating magic mushrooms: if this occurs it is important that they get to hospital as soon as possible.
• Bad trips can be very disturbing.
• As with all hallucinogenic drugs, the impact on people with mental problems such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia can be serious as magic mushrooms complicate these conditions.