Magic mushrooms at €30 for three!

[Alfa]

http://www.munster-express.ie/050930/opinion1.htm

Magic mushrooms at €30 for three!
And talking about drugs, there was a bit of a brouhaha last week when it emerged that hallucinogenic magic mushrooms were openly on sale in a shop in Drogheda.
The mushrooms in question, which have an effect similar to a mild dose of LSD, can be purchased for €30 for a packet of three at the Himalayan shop in the town centre.
Apparently, fresh magic mushrooms are not illegal here but were made a Class A drug in Britain in July of this year.
The owner of the Himalayan shop, Darcy Pettigrew, confirmed to reporters that the mushrooms contained the substance psilocybin which is a banned substance in this country under the Misuse of Drugs Act. But, pointed out Mr. Pettigrew, because they had not been dried, frozen or processed in any way, it was not illegal to sell them.
The magic mushrooms on sale in Drogheda come from Holland where they are specially cultivated and contain a controlled dose of active ingredients.
They are only sold to adults and customers are said to be mainly people in their 20s and 30s.
A spokesman for Drogheda Gardai said, if products containing banned substances were on sale, the matter would have to be investigated. The prosecution might be open to legal argument but, if they felt there were grounds for prosecution, they would present the facts in court.
However, Mr Pettigrew claims he has a letter from the office of the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, confirming the position, dated September 2004. He said the letter stated that, as long as the mushrooms were not processed, they were legal to possess or sell. We shall see what we shall see.

[bcStoner420]

It says the mushrooms had a controlled dose of active ingredients. Is that even possible? If it is I can only imagine it must be very hard.

[Alfa]

It is a living product which makes it hard to exactly controll the amount of active ingredients, but a 30 grams dose of cubensis contains about the same amount of active substances as another 30 grams dose of cubensis. These mushrooms have been grown under controlled environments, in the same grow rooms edible mushrooms are grown. The Dutch Food inspection inspects these mushrooms. One can even find inspection and analysis rapports online. To bad they are in Dutch.

[Alfa]

A loophole implies that there is a hole in the law that legislators have forgotten to close. The expression implies that that which is legal should be illegal. It seems to stem from the idea that all drugs should be illegal by definition.

The contrary is the case. UN drug laws have caused psilocin and psilocybin to be illegal in all UN countries. The mushrooms themselves have not been included in these conventions on purpose. Read: they should be legal. Several countries however have stretched the meaning of the UN conventions to cover magic mushrooms as well.

The article in the OP refers to Ireland, where magic mushrooms where banned soon after that article. As I understand it fresh magic mushrooms are legal in a few states of the USA. This does not mean that one is free from prosecution though.

[Fresh]

Originally Posted by Alfa

The contrary is the case. UN drug laws have caused psilocin and psilocybin to be illegal in all UN countries. The mushrooms themselves have not been included in these conventions on purpose. Read: they should be legal. Several countries however have stretched the meaning of the UN conventions to cover magic mushrooms as well.

What would be the point of making psilocybin illegal, but allowing the sale of fresh psilocybin containing mushrooms? Wouldn't that be like saying it's illegal to drink alcohol and be drunk, but bars are still allowed to sell alcoholic drinks. I personally don't think this psilocin or these mushrooms should be illegal to begin with.

[Alfa]

The difference is in strength and between chemical and natural occuring drugs.

Pure psilocybin is much stronger than a mushroom. Ever tried to snort, inject mushrooms? If not: keep it that way. lol.
Compare the dose of 20 mg psilocin/psilocybin to that of 30 grams (30.000 mg's of mushrooms) One can easely overdose on pure psilocybin/psilocin. To relate to your example of alcohol: there is a lot of difference between beer and hard liquor. Still it's both alcohol.

Then there is the aspect of banning natural occuring plants. This is madness and the UN legislators have realised this. In the letter of the law banning natural occuring psychoactives means arresting people who have plants with illegal drugs in them growing on their land. Many plants contain illegal drugs. Down to the most common foods like potato's.

[Fresh]

LOL... that's exactly why outlawing "drugs" is insane. They are just plants that grow naturally. Is not like the devil planted them or something. And if we really were concerned out the children blah blah blah, then cigarettes would be gone by now. I honestly think that mushrooms are relatively harmless. Outlawing them only forces them into the "black" market and increases risks and makes it more appealing to younger people... the thought of "doing something bad." If it were just accepted and regulated to some extent, I think people could experience these mushrooms in safe environments, knowing what they're consuming, knowing the risks, etc. Same with pot, and other stuff.

Reputation Comments on this post:

good contribution to the discussion!

[_caesar_]

I think Mr Darcy Pettigrew will find that he is committing an offence under the Misuse of Drugs act. There was an amendment that closed that loophole passed earlier this year, possession of any mushrooms containing psilocybin is now an offence. They are now a class A substance.

http://www.ndc.hrb.ie/directory/news...2619&pointer=0

It was a knee jerk reaction to a death of a young man who jumped from a balcony while under the influence.

Looks like whats been sold is from the amanita family which at present are still legal.

http://www.ndc.hrb.ie/directory/news...2992&pointer=0

[Abrad]

This article was posted before they were banned.

Looks like whats been sold is from the amanita family which at present are still legal.

Amanitas are still legal and being sold in headshops.

[Nicaine]

SWIM thinks things are so weird in the U.K. right now, based on what he's increasingly seeing of online pharmacies, headshops, RC suppliers etc. It's almost like the portion of the legal system related to substances has partially broken down. If so, all the better... there's no better atmosphere than the "wild west" for exploration!

[Abrad]

^^The Republic of Ireland is not part of the UK. IMHO it is less tolerant than the UK in regards to drugs. I would be very surprised to see an RC supplier operating in Ireland!
Headshops in the UK are walking a very fine line, as was demonstrated with the recent piperizines debackle.