Magic mushrooms

WHAT ARE MAGIC MUSHROOMS?

The term ‘Magic mushrooms’ refers to several types of mushrooms that contain a chemical called psilocybin. Psilocybin is a naturally occurring hallucinogen which means it alters your perceptions. Mushrooms can be picked fresh, come as dried mushrooms or even ground down into capsules (caps). Magic mushrooms are eaten fresh, cooked or brewed as tea, or even smoked with tobacco or cannabis.

OTHER NAMES:

Shrooms, mushies, magics, golden tops, blue meanies, liberty caps.

EFFECTS:

• Using magic mushrooms can give you visual hallucinations. You might feel giggly, excited, notice changes in your mood or experience enhanced senses (taste, touch, smell).
• Some people can experience overwhelm, nausea and vomiting, anxiety, light sensitivity, yawning.
• Taking hallucinogens is often called a trip. Trips can be fun or can be frightening, also known as a “bad trip”.
• Trips can be impacted by your mental health. It’s important to check your mental health and ensure it is stable before deciding to use as using drugs might worsen your symptoms.
  DURATION
• The effects of magic mushrooms can last for 4-9 hours
• You might feel the effects from 15-120 minutes after you have consumed them
• You might experience a pea at 2-3 hours
• It’s a good idea to wait at least 2 hours before redosing
• Be aware that redosing does not usually give you another peak but will extend the trip
  OVERDOSE/ POISONING
• Wrongly identified mushrooms can be fatal. Symptoms of poisoning include stomach pains, vomiting, diarrhoea or unconsciousness.
• An ambulance should be called if any of these symptoms occur.

SOME COMMON HARM REDUCTION STRATEGIES

Encourage a young person to: –

• Try to use in a safe and comfortable environment with people you trust.
• Try to have an experienced user (trip sitter) or sober friend with you, especially if it’s the first time you are using
• Dose will depend on if you use fresh, dried or caps. Different mushrooms have different levels of psychoactive substances.
• Have something to eat about 30 minutes before using and have water and snacks ready if you need.
• Start with a small dose to minimise chance of poisoning and wait at least 30 minutes before ‘topping up’
• Where possible, get mushrooms from a reliable source to avoid poisoning
• Eating a poisonous mushroom by mistake can make you very sick and can be fatal- you will need to get medical help as soon as possible.
• It is really important to know your mushrooms! The department of health describes some mushrooms that can be deadly.

This is only a little bit of information check out Harm Reduction Victoria’s fact sheet or watch this video about mushrooms from GlobalDrugSurvey.