My kitchen table occasionally becomes a meeting place for a hive of teenagers, and I must say they are a great bunch of young people. I don’t usually pay much attention to the small talk, and yet on one occasion my ears pricked up as they discussed a friend who was having problems getting his head together after taking a “bad trip on shrooms”. Being totally out of the current lingo & teen terminology I had to ask what a “shroom” was. Amidst a throng of giggles I was told it was a Magic Mushroom. At that stage I was drawn in to the conversation as it seemed that the general opinion was that “shrooms” were harmless. So I told them just one of my stories (true) of mushroom disasters that I had witnessed here on the Island.
It was about 8 years ago when a fit twenty something Australian man was brought into the emergency room. His story? He had taken a magic mushroom milkshake in Kuta with a group of friends. All the others had taken one milkshake, he had taken two. Before the “trip” there had been an argument with a friend and this man was feeling guilty about throwing a punch at his mate. Under the influence of the drug, his emotions had been magnified to the extent that he became suicidal. He stabbed himself in the chest with a broken drink bottle and punctured his right lung, then climbed to the second floor of the hotel and jumped. Realizing that he could still get up, he then climbed the stairs again and jumped yet again. This time he did not get up, and yet it still took eleven people to grapple him into an ambulance. He died of head injuries the next day. Perhaps it’s not so much the physiological effect of the drug that could be a danger, but the effect of what you might do in a disillusioned state.
What Are Magic Mushrooms?
Naturally-occurring fungi which contain varying amounts of the conscious-altering substances psilocybin , psilocin, ibotenic acid, and muscimol. When eaten or drunk in a tea, they combine readily and hungrily with the brain to evoke a powerful psychedelic trip experience, shorter-lived but similar in tone and effect to LSD. There are more than 90 species of magic mushrooms worldwide that contain various concentrations of active ingredients which all have very different effects.
The mushrooms are light to dark brown in color and come in fresh, dried or powdered forms. All of them taste disgusting. They smell distinctively ‘mushroomy’ and are impossible to confuse with any other powdered drug. The mushroom effect is described as a ‘trip’ because it is a long (4-6 hours) and powerful experience which takes you beyond normal perception and then back again. At low doses, mushrooms induce a tingling body feeling and sense of euphoria and lightness. You may feel happy and giggly. Colors seem more vibrant, music sounds richer.
Psychologically, any insights or feelings you have had whilst “bemushroomed” will stay with you. A positive experience can give you a glow lasting hours, days or even weeks afterwards but at the same time, bad trips, are likely to stay with you for a while afterwards. Fear and anxiety for a few days is not uncommon but usually will fade, however people who already have any emotional disorder should not try this drug as the effects can last much longer.
Is It Legal?
In Bali I cannot get any fixed information on this, but as far as I can gather mushrooms have not yet been categorized and therefore are not illegal. In the US, mushrooms and psilocybin are categorized under schedule 1 along with LSD, cannabis, and heroin. Magic mushrooms in all forms - fresh, dried, processed, naturally growing - are illegal and class A under UK law as of April 2005.
Dangers
Magic Mushrooms and other psychedelics are powerful mental amplifiers. If you are feeling depressed, anxious, do not take magic mushrooms or other psychedelics. About 15% of users who experience bad trips report having post traumatic flash-backs that can last weeks or months after taking the drug.
Mushroom effects and your reaction to them are strongly determined by set and setting. Set is your mindset when taking the drug; setting is where you are. The magic mushroom effect makes you enormously sensitive to your environment so you should always be in a safe, comfortable environment, preferably with a friend you trust. NEVER NEVER NEVER drive a vehicle or perform potentially dangerous sports under the influence of this drug.
Mixing
Mushrooms are powerful psychedelics and should not, as a rule, be mixed with other mind-altering drugs, especially not by the inexperienced or the far from home. There have been very few scientific studies into the effects of combining psychoactive drugs.
Note: Parents be warned, many of the websites giving information to teenagers regarding the use of magic mushrooms give very positive reports and do not highlight the dangers of this drug enough.
