Tripping Out... All About Magic Mushrooms  Read on for more info about Magic Mushrooms and other hallucinogens.
Another common hallucinogen, along with LSD, is Magic Mushrooms. Here’s a brief description of them and the facts you need to know and refer to the LSD article for more info. What they are and what they look like: As the name suggests Magic Mushrooms are simply mushrooms, but unlike the ones you buy from the shops they make you hallucinate as they contain the hallucinogens Psilocybin, Psilocin or Muscimole. The  mushrooms that are ‘magic’ are the Liberty Cap and the Fly Agaric and can be found growing wildly in this country. It would be dangerous and irresponsible to try and describe what they look like as they change as they grow and can be easily confused with other mushrooms, some harmless some deadly. Only experts can really recognise them so if you’re gonna take them make sure you’re 100% what they are. How you take it:  Magic mushrooms can be eaten raw but are more commonly cooked or dried and mixed with food or made into a tea. It’s here that the law comes in as they can be legally grown and picked but when they’re dried they become a Class ‘A’ drug and having, selling or preparing them is illegal and punishable with the severest penalties for drug offences.
How you buy it and how much it costs: They grow wildly and people tend to go and pick them for free but they can be sold as dried for use to eat, cook or brew tea with. What it’s also known as: Mushrooms, Liberty Caps, M & M’s, Bullshit, Fly Agaric How long it takes to work, how it affects you, and how long the effects last:  As with any drug, effects depend on the user and their body, what they expect of the drug, how experienced they’re with it, where they are, the purity of the drug and how much is used and for how long. This is also true for how long the effects take to work and how long they last for and Mushrooms also work faster on an empty stomach. Usually they start working after 30 minutes to an hour and the effects wear off after 4-6 hours. The effects are very similar to those of LSD an can be read about by clicking here, you can get good trips and bad trips. The main difference is that trips happen quicker and are shorter than those from LSD. They can cause stuff like vomiting, fast heart rate, dilated pupils, tiredness, flushing and nausea.
Problems of long-term use:  You can’t die of an overdose of magic mushrooms, though taking loads will make you quite messed up. You can’t get physically addicted and you don’t get withdrawal symptoms but the pleasure experienced can lead to psychological addiction, where you feel you need the drug to enjoy yourself and even understand yourself, due to acid’s mind opening experiences. Tolerance to magic mushrooms happens quickly and you soon need more and more to get the same experiences and a stage can be reached where it has no effect, although by stopping the amount you need drops again. You may also get flashbacks, where you may see parts of your trip for couple of minutes when you’re not on them, this can happen months after you’ve take it and can be quite distressing. Whilst there is no evidence to show that mushrooms cause brain damage, repeated use can cause mental problems especially if you have a history of mental illness.
The main danger:  As mentioned above Magic Mushrooms when growing wild as Liberty Caps can easily be confused with other mushrooms. They look very similar to Death Cap, which can kill you even if a very small amount is eaten. So if you’re picking them, be very, very careful. You can get mushroom poisoning, which takes 40 hours to show signs through convulsions, cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting and loss of consciousness. If this happens then you must get the person with it to the hospital ASAP.
Where to get help: If you or anybody you know are having problems with Magic Mushrooms try the following places for help and support @ the Addictions Links Page. Go to : Read:
by ChrisM
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