Occurrence and use of hallucinogenic mushrooms containing psilocybin alkaloids

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.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In some parts of the world mushrooms have had a central role in religious ritual ceremonies. Ethnomycological studies among the Indian tribes of Mexico - the Aztecs and the Chichimecas - revealed the mushrooms to be hallucinogenic. Chemists from a leading Pharmaceutical company took over, isolated and described the mushroom alkaloid psilocybin, that upon dephosphorylation after collection of the mushroom or in the human body, form psilocin that is the active hallucinogenic compound. For a long time psilocybin/psilocin was expected to become a constituent of psychedelic drugs useful for treatment of specific psychoses. As the effect of psilocybin/psilocin resembles that of LSD the isolated compound, as well as mushrooms containing the compound, became popular among recreational users of hallucinogenic drugs in Western America, and from there the habit of using these mushrooms have spread around the world. Psilocybin/psilocin is legally prohibited in many countries which usually treat the compound as a narcotic drug. Some countries also prohibit the use of some or all psilocybin-containing mushrooms. In this respect, the legal situation differs between Nordic countries. Although psilocybin-containing mushrooms are not what Nordic mushroom pickers are trying to find as food or food supplement, there is a risk, admittedly small, that these mushrooms accidentally will be collected. At the present situation, this may be a legal problem in some Nordic countries. This document aims at identifying when this might be the case without going into legal interpretations.