What does psilocybin look like? What does psilocybin look like?

Who abuses psilocybin? Who abuses psilocybin?

What is psiloWhat is psilo

What is psilocybin? What is psilocybin?

What are the risks? What are the risks?

How is it abused? How is it abused?

What is psilocybin?What does psilocybin look like?How is it abused?

Psilocybin is a hallucinogenic substance obtained from certain types of

mushrooms that are indigenous totropical and subtropical regions ofSouth America, Mexico, and theUnited States. These mushroomstypically contain 0.2 to 0.4 percentpsilocybin and a trace amount ofpsilocyn, another hallucinogenic substance. Both psilocybin and psilocyncan be produced synthetically, but lawenforcement reporting currently doesnot indicate that this is occurring.

Mushrooms containing psilocybin

are available fresh or dried and havelong, slender stems topped by capswith dark gills on the underside.Fresh mushrooms have white orwhitish-gray stems; the caps are darkbrown around the edges and lightbrown or white in the center. Driedmushrooms are generally rusty brownwith isolated areas of off-white.

Psilocybin mushrooms are ingested

orally. They may be brewed as a tea oradded to other foods to mask theirbitter flavor. Some users coat themushrooms with chocolate—this bothmasks the flavor and disguises themushrooms as candy. Once the mushrooms are ingested, the body breaksdown the psilocybin to producepsilocyn.

Who abuses psilocybin?What are the risks?

Psilocybin mushrooms are popular at

raves, clubs and, increasingly, oncollege campuses and generally areabused by teenagers and young adults.It is difficult to gauge the extent ofpsilocybin use in the United Statesbecause most data sources that quantify drug use exclude psilocybin. TheMonitoring the Future Survey, conducted by the University of Michigan,does reveal that 9.2 percent of highschool seniors in the United Statesused hallucinogens other than LSD—acategory that includes psilocybin—atleast once in their lifetime. Two percentof high school seniors used hallucinogens other than LSD in the past month.

Use of psilocybin is associated with

negative physical and psychologicalconsequences. The physical effects,which appear within 20 minutes ofingestion and last approximately 6hours, include nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness, drowsiness, and lack ofcoordination. While there is no evidencethat users may become physicallydependent on psilocybin, tolerance forthe drug does develop when it isingested continuously over a shortperiod of time.

The psychological consequences of

psilocybin use include hallucinationsand an inability to discern fantasy fromreality. Panic reactions and psychosisalso may occur, particularly if a useringests a large dose.

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Is psilocybin Illegal? Is psilocybin Illegal?

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Is psilocybin illegal?

Yes, psilocybin is illegal.

Psilocybin is a Schedule I substance under the ControlledSubstances Act. Schedule I drugs,which include heroin and LSD,have a high potential for abuse andserve no legitimate medical purpose in the United States.

Cover photo © Porrata Consulting

NDIC Product No. 2003-L0559-018

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