A kind of hallucinogenic mushrooms that is authorized to sell in the US may induce exhilaration and “temporary craziness,” according to specialists, but one individual who unintentionally consumed them went into a coma.
Recently, Amanita muscaria gained attention when the Florida-based Chillum Mushroom and Hemp Dispensary claimed to be the first shop to provide a legal “magic” mushroom in the country. The items for sale include a joint, nibbles made with Amanita muscaria, capsules made with that fungus and others, and sweets.
Mycologist Alan Rockefeller of Oakland, California told Insider that Amanita muscaria has been offered for sale online in the US for many years.
All US states, with the exception of Louisiana, allow the sale of the species, sometimes known as “fly agaric.” There is disagreement about its safety; the majority of identification guides list it as toxic, however Caine Barlow, an Australian mycologist, claims that it was used as medicine by ancient people in the Russian Far East.
‘Temporary insanity’ has been linked to Amanita muscaria.
Muscimol, which works on receptors in the brain similar to those that alcohol acts on, is the primary hallucinogenic component of Amanita muscaria.
Depending on the dosage, the effects begin between 10 and 120 minutes after eating one to four mushrooms and remain for four to eight hours.
According to Rockefeller, psilocybin has effects that are comparable to those of acid, including hallucinations, whereas muscimol generally has a relaxing but sleepier impact than alcohol. According to anecdotal evidence, approximately one in five persons love eating Amanita muscaria whereas about two in five report feeling sick after doing so.
At moderate dosages (about half to one mushroom or 0.03 to 0.17 ounces), the mushroom is “very pleasant,” according to Barlow, but at excessive quantities it may become “difficult to handle.” He said that using them may result in sensations of exhilaration and a “sense of being in a dream-like state” in a piece for Third Wave, an online resource for psychedelics.
According to Barlow, other side effects of the mushroom include vomiting, a lack of coordination, a temporary loss of awareness of one’s surroundings, size distortion, “looping,” or being trapped in a cycle of repeating action or thinking, and a feeling of being in the air.
Leading mycologist Paul Stamets said that Amanita muscaria was “one of the most hazardous mushrooms” and that it induced “temporary insanity” in an interview that was conducted in 2019.
I strongly advise against doing this, he stated.
An article on a case study that was unintentionally consumed Amanita muscaria resulted in one individual going into a coma was published in the European Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine.
Different from common “magic” mushrooms are amanita muscaria mushrooms.
The phrase “magic” mushrooms is often used to refer to mushrooms that contain psilocybin, a drug that is illegal in the US and has distinct health hazards than Amanita muscaria.
Rep. Michael Grieco of Florida said last month that Chillum Mushroom and Hemp Dispensary was “misleading the public” by claiming to sell “magic” mushrooms and that he was worried about the lack of controls. Grieco supports the legalization of psilocybin in Florida for the treatment of depression and PTSD in monitored, clinical settings.
He remarked, “I’m worried about perhaps someone becoming ill or even ending up in the hospital.”
According to Hermida, indigenous societies employ Amanita muscaria as a “safe mushroom.” He admitted to Insider in a prior interview that eating the mushrooms raw might result in nausea and diarrhea, but he prepares and treatments them to lessen their toxicity.
Lawyer, activist, and executive director of Vital Oregon’s psilocybin facilitator training program Jon Dennis stated it may be deadly if someone took an Amanita muscaria mushroom under the false impression that it included psilocybin.