Occurrence and use of hallucinogenic mushrooms containing psilocybin alkaloids
TemaNord May 19, 2009 Christer Andersson, Jørn Gry, Jakob Kristinsson 42 citations
Mushrooms have played a central role in religious rituals in parts of Mexico, where ethnomycological studies among the Aztecs and Chichimecas revealed their hallucinogenic properties. Chemists isolated the alkaloid psilocybin, which dephosphorylates to form psilocin, the active compound. Although once expected to become a psychedelic drug for treating psychoses, psilocybin and psilocin became popular recreationally in Western America and spread globally. They are legally prohibited in many countries, though laws vary among Nordic nations. While Nordic mushroom pickers do not seek these mushrooms, accidental collection poses a small but possible legal problem in some Nordic countries.