Psilocybin and Psilocin
OpenAlex – March 09, 2000
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Psilocybin mushrooms are notably more popular than LSD among college students, with 15% reporting use compared to just 5% for LSD. These "mind-revealing" mushrooms, containing psilocybin and psilocin, have a long history, used ritualistically by Mexican Native Americans for thousands of years. Modern recreational appeal extends to younger demographics; a California survey found 3.4% of seventh graders and 8.8% of eleventh graders had used them, often cultivated at home from readily available spores.
Abstract
Abstract Psilocybin and psilocin are indolealkylamines present in Central American Psilocybe species of mushrooms and in Panaeolus mushroom species of the United States (3,4). For thousands of years, Mexican Native Americans have eaten Psilocybe mushrooms ritualistically for their hallucinatory and psychedelic (“mind-revealing”) properties. In the United States during the 1980s, recreational use of mush rooms became popular among adolescents (1). A survey of American college students revealed that 15% had used mushrooms compared to only 5% who had used o-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) (7). A survey in California found that psilocybin-containing mushrooms had been used by 3.4% of seventh graders and 8.8% of eleventh graders (6). Mail-order catalogues directed toward the drug culture advertise spores of various psilocybin-and psilocin-containing species that can be grown at home (3). Both Psilocybe and Panaeolus species are used to induce hallucinatory effects (1,3,5). Mushrooms are usually dried or frozen; cooking does not destroy the psychoactive compounds.