Some edible products from magic mushrooms have no psilocybin – just garbage that always make you high

If a edible “magic fungus” has ever made you a psychedelic trip, you could be surprised. There is a good chance that what you ate did not have a psilocybin – the chemical compound which gives the mushrooms their “magic”.

In an article published on September 11 in Jama Network Open, researchers reported that an analysis of 12 gumies and chocolates of magic mushrooms sold in Portland found no trace of psilocybin. Instead, edible products contained uncompromising ingredients, including caffeine, cannabis extract and synthetic psychedelics that have not undergone regulatory tests.

“We have not found any evidence of mushrooms of all kinds from a species,” Scientific American Richard Van Breemen, study co-author and pharmaceutical sciences at Oregon State University, told Scientific.

This poor uncontrolled labeling can be a product of excitement around the potential use of psilocybin to treat a range of mental health problems, added Van Breemen in a university press release. But research has not advanced enough for experts to confirm that this is really the case.

“Any new drug entity requires years of development to assess human safety and efficiency,” he said. “Premature exposure to these compounds presents significant risks for public health due to unknown pharmacology and toxicity.”

Mushrooms in the United States

Psilocybin in magic mushroom species causes visual hallucinations when consumed in sufficient doses. It is classified as an appendix I medication, which means that it “has a great potential for abuse, no medical use currently accepted in treatment in the United States and a lack of safety accepted for medical use”, according to Drug Encompement Administration.

Several states have declined a psilocybin, with efforts to legalize the drug across the country. A smaller number, Colorado, New Mexico and Oregon – where researchers bought edible products for research – attended adult use of the drug in strict conditions. However, the legal channels are quite expensive, a recent study reporting the price range from $ 750 to $ 1,200.

“Many people are very curious about these substances,” Scientific American Mason Marks, a legal expert in psychedelics of the Florida State University who was not involved in the study. “And if you are in a state, like Oregon, which does not decriminalize them, people can go to these stores and buy these products which are obviously illegal or in a way in this gray area.”

High for bad reasons

These cheap and accessible edibles were what Van Breemen and his colleagues bought and analyzed for the new study. First of all, the team sent the samples to an establishment approved by the State which certifies the quality of the drugs for the legal psilocybine centers of Oregon. Surprisingly, tests revealed that edible products did not contain any psilocybin.

Back in the laboratory, the researchers tried to determine what was then in these so-called edible magical mushrooms. Using a certain analytical chemistry, they found that edible products contained many unexpected ingredients, including compounds like tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient of cannabis.

The team has identified Psilocin, a natural compound in psychedelic mushrooms, in two gummeux. But if psilocin really came from mushrooms, the researchers would have found other related compounds – which they did not do it. This strongly suggests that psilocin was made in the laboratory, they said.

That was not all. Some of the brands also had a non -listed addition of “syndelic” or synthetic psychedelics which imitate natural and psychoactive compounds. Their effects on human health have not been properly studied, added Van Breemen – which makes their presence hidden in these easily accessible edible products increasingly alarming.

“Progress of analytical chemistry is necessary to detect new syndelics and other adults in consumer products,” said Van Breemen. The next steps, he added, will be for science “to exhibit branding errors, to support law enforcement agencies and regulation, and to help poison control centers and hospitals when they meet overdoses caused by unknown compounds”.