Psilocybin - Consequences

Consequences

Psilocybin is not as strong as LSD, is not habit-forming, and is a product of nature. However, it is still hazardous. Although the drug rarely produces a dangerous overdose situation, it does produce, regularly, a state of mind that is out of touch with reality. Users do not think clearly. Their ability to move is impaired. This can—and does—lead to accidents.

Before magic mushrooms were banned in Japan, a writer for the Chicago Tribune studied the legal trade of such shrooms in Japan in 2001. Vendors could sell mushrooms containing psilocybin as long as they did not sell them as food. Some people in Japan bought the mushrooms and ate them anyway. The Tribune documented two Japanese deaths related to psilocybin—one of them being a man who jumped off a building while high on the substance. The Japanese government took steps to ban the substance in 2002 after the number of deaths linked to the mushrooms climbed significantly.

Other incidents involved American tourists in Mexico who jumped off cliffs, thinking they could fly, after ingesting fresh Psilocybe mushrooms. Psilocybin users may become paranoid and attack family members and health care workers. Medical literature documents the fact that psilocybin overdose can cause heart attacks.