Magic Mushrooms

Details
  • There are several varieties of magic mushrooms. 'Golden tops', 'blue meanies' and 'liberty caps' are some of the types found in Australia that have the active ingredient psilocybin.
  • Magic mushrooms look much like ordinary dried mushrooms, or they come as powdered material in capsules.
  • Synthetic psilocybin appears as a white crystalline powder that may be processed into tablets or capsules, or dissolved in a liquid.
  • Mushrooms containing psilocybin can often look very similar to other mushrooms that are actually poisonous. Some poisonous mushrooms may cause permanent liver damage or death after being eaten.
  • Magic mushrooms are usually eaten fresh, cooked or brewed into a 'tea'. Occasionally, they may be mixed with tobacco or cannabis and smoked.

Magic mushrooms are also called: Shrooms, mushies, magics, golden tops, blue meanies, liberty caps.

Effects

Magic mushrooms can give you a good trip, making you feel confident, relaxed and in good spirits – or they can give you a really scary bad trip. You won’t know what will happen until you take them. The more you take, the longer your trip could last. If you feel that you’re having (or going to have) a bad trip, let your friends know and get their help. Go to a nice quiet spot where you feel safe and can relax.

They can also have other effects:

  • Magic mushrooms can distort colours, sounds and objects. They can make you feel as if your senses are mixed up so that, for example, you think you can hear colours and you can see sounds. Some people can feel more emotionally sensitive or more creative or feel enlightened.
  • They can also speed up and slow down your sense of time and movement.
  • They can make it feel like you're dreaming when you're awake.
  • Sometimes, magic mushrooms can make you feel disoriented, tired or sick and can give you stomach pains or diarrhoea.

 

Risks
  • There are many different types of mushroom and some are so poisonous that they can kill you, so the biggest danger is eating a poisonous mushroom by mistake. 
  • Users may have a bad trip and these can be seriously frightening and unsettling accompanied by unpleasant and/or intense hallucinations, paranoia, anxiety, panic or fear.  
  • Flashbacks sometimes happen after taking magic mushrooms. This is when part of the ‘trip’ is re-lived after the original experience. 
  • Your perception of your body and the world around you can be distorted, which means you may be at risk because you’re not in complete control of what you're doing.
  • If you have any mental health issues, magic mushrooms can make them worse.

 

Further Resources
Links