why are magic mushrooms illegal

anything I don't mind · 12 Sep 2011 at 20:58

I would like to know what the official reason is for making them illegal, what the official line is. They tend to just put all non pharma drugs, natural or synthetic under the same banner of "harmful illegal drugs", without offering a reason for why the specific drug is harmful.

Now I am not advocating that everyone should take drugs, illegal or legal. But making any drugs illegal does not help or solve any problems. People still take the drugs and more problems are created as a result.

Glaucus · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:00

groen said:
. People still take the drugs and more problems are created as a result.

This is a little bit debatable. It's not like alcohol has Few problems because it is legal. It's just the problems are different.

It very much depends on how many people would partake and that is an unknown quantity, but it would increase.

Zefan · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:03

RadoX said:
you take mushrooms expecting this to happen ? so you have a friend who isnt on them with you to look after you or you take them in a safe place ? also the first time you dont go and put 200 in a tea, the same as the first time you drink you dont down a bottle of vodka ? stupid people cause problems not mushrooms.

Allow me to use a bit of a wacky analogy here.

When rock climbing you're getting higher and higher, but if you ever feel uncomfortable you have the ropes holding you and it's a gradual increase in risk and adrenalin as you work up to a greater height/harder climbs. If it feels a bit too much for you you can always stop it and climb down.

When you skydive you jump out of a plane and there's no way of getting out of it. If you suddenly realise it's too much for you then you're buggered as you can't back out.

Stupid people will always do stupid things, but trying to argue that one doesn't contain more inherent risks than the other is quite foolish.

PapaLazaru · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:09

mattyfez said:
Tea? A pre packaged kiddie dose? In higher dosage it can be a very intense experience, and should not be on the open market "for lol". It's a life changing deep spiritual experience, and should not be done without carefull consideration.

Kiddie dose? Don't mock me, sir.

I am talking home made stuff. We used to put between 150-200 per pot. Would get 4 people comfortably buzzing. These are the little ones you get up on high hills early in the morning.

Had the bigger ones once as well. Bought them in a basement shop in Soho. I seem to recall they looked more like truffles than mushrooms. From South America as well. Now they were strong. Some of the hallucinations were very intense. Curtains dripping like melted butter, lampshades growing larger and smaller. Far more intense than any LSD trip I may have taken.

anything I don't mind · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:12

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article521199.ece

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1566926/Prescription-drug-deaths-double-in-a-decade.html

http://www.abpi.org.uk/industry-info/knowledge-hub/uk-economy/Pages/voi.aspx

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/7...escription-drugs-dont-work-doctor-claims.html

http://www.drugscope.org.uk/Resources/Drugscope/Documents/PDF/Good Practice/alcdeaths0110.pdf

Deaths directly attributed to cannabis overdose per year: 0
Deaths directly related to shrooms per year: 0
Deaths directly related to mdma per year: 250

Alcohol causes 1000s and tobacco is worse.

The other illegal drugs total about 1000-2000 deaths per year directly attributed to the drug. But people should have the right to take a mind altering chemical, knowing the risk associated with it.

godinman · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:12

I used to eat mushrooms loads when I was in college (you could buy them legally from a head shop called Salsa).

They were awesome fun, me and a couple of friends used to eat them on the weekends and walk round the woods. No harm done at all.

And to this day I don't think there is any connection between those blood/bile stains on my boxer shorts and those gruesome orphanage killings.

Glaucus · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:15

groen said:
[snip.

and is death the only stick to measure something against.

And again the users of alcohol is in the millions. I would like to see these research documents risk. Be divided by estimated users. To see what the actual "cost" to society is.

RadoX · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:17

AcidHell2 said:
and is death the only stick to measure something against.

And again the users of alcohol is in the millions. I would like to see these research documents risk. Be divided by estimated users. To see what the actual "cost" to society is.

you cant divide by 0

Pate · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:18

Zefan said:
Allow me to use a bit of a wacky analogy here.

When rock climbing you're getting higher and higher, but if you ever feel uncomfortable you have the ropes holding you and it's a gradual increase in risk and adrenalin as you work up to a greater height/harder climbs. If it feels a bit too much for you you can always stop it and climb down.

When you skydive you jump out of a plane and there's no way of getting out of it. If you suddenly realise it's too much for you then you're buggered as you can't back out.

Stupid people will always do stupid things, but trying to argue that one doesn't contain more inherent risks than the other is quite foolish.

This.

With cigs and alcohol you know that within reason you're going to only experience a set of parameters. With psychedelics anything can happen. Can be a good thing, but a mate of mind had a horrible trip on acid. Could easily have been worse for him.

Glaucus · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:18

RadoX said:
you cant divide by 0

It wouldn't be zero. How did you get to that conclusion.

RadoX · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:22

AcidHell2 said:
It wouldn't be zero. How did you get to that conclusion.

no one has ever died from ingesting psilocybin

anything I don't mind · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:22

Zefan said:
Allow me to use a bit of a wacky analogy here.

When rock climbing you're getting higher and higher, but if you ever feel uncomfortable you have the ropes holding you and it's a gradual increase in risk and adrenalin as you work up to a greater height/harder climbs. If it feels a bit too much for you you can always stop it and climb down.

When you skydive you jump out of a plane and there's no way of getting out of it. If you suddenly realise it's too much for you then you're buggered as you can't back out.

Stupid people will always do stupid things, but trying to argue that one doesn't contain more inherent risks than the other is quite foolish.

Mushrooms is not for the weak minded or self conscious.

The first time i took mushrooms I had a bit of a freak out. I was on the dancefloor at a festival and I had white (beige) trousers on. On the way to the dance floor i was literally seeing cartoons in the trees. Some one said to me that i was glowing, well i thought they did. I looked down at my trousers and in the uv i was glowing. So i freaked out a bit and fell over a tree and wanted to go back to the tent, it was all a bit too much for me. As i was walking back to the tent I could not see anything as it was pitched black. I was walking behind someone in front of me who was on the path, i was following them as i could not see very well. Next thing i know i am standing by some tents and holding my head adn the girl is looking at me strange and asking me why i am following her. We both laughed and then i spent the rest of the night in the tent with my friends who had also taken mushrooms and came back to the tent.

flibbage0 · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:25

Drugs are bad mmkay.

Glaucus · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:25

RadoX said:
no one has ever died from ingesting psilocybin

And where did I say divide by deaths. I didn't.

"cost" to society is made up of many different areas. Death being just one of them.
I'm sure if you find the drug report which the top scientist was sacked for, it will go into much more detail how they rated the drugs.

Why are you assuming deaths is the only bench Mark, drugs have a much wider problem than death.

GJ02 · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:27

they are good tho, had some cracking times with them i tell you

Glaucus · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:27

GJ02 said:
they are good tho, had some cracking times with them i tell you

Sitting at the back of the field at festivals use to be awesome.

Meridian · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:31

Hikari Kisugi said:
You can pick em wild.
You can make a soup or tea.
You can drink the tea, nothing illegal teanspired.
Then 2005 hit and it changed, and a certain biochemistry prof was mighty ****ed off.
No mushroom soup for him anymore.

No, mushroom soup was illegal before as well. As were mushroom cupcakes, mushroom omelettes, or any other culinary preparation involving any mushroom/fungus containing psilocin or any of it's esters. The magic word is "preparation". The law never defined it, but there's no question that a mushroom soup or tea would be a preparation and thus illegal.

M

GJ02 · 12 Sep 2011 at 21:42

AcidHell2 said:
Sitting at the back of the field at festivals use to be awesome.

im was thinking more along the lines of

talking to a sock on my washing line for a good 20 mins, and seeing a man with a donkeys head in the pub, thinking i was in china when i was in bed with my wife, following a light in the sky for 25 mins across chester, thinking it was a spaceship when infact it was a star ( and telling tourists passing me by that it was a spaceship )
not giving them enough time, and taking more then realising im totally screwed

oooh thems the days

Tefal · 12 Sep 2011 at 22:12

mattyfez said:
I agree with harder rules on things like shrooms, as if they are so easy to get hold of, people are less likely to fully understand what it is they are letting themselves in for. Imo, its akin to scrapping the driving test, and just letting people battle it out on the roads.

too easy to get hold off? they grow wild in this country how are you ever going to stop people going and picking them?

ban anyone from going for walks?

GhostlyPea said:
You *doubt* so you don't actually know, don't make calls on something you don't know.

- GP

Yeah "doubt" as a figure of speech you will not "go crazy" off a single mushroom it wont even affect you.

And you quite clearly mentioned alcohol in your post.

Because I'm sure you've had a sip of beer (and a lot of beer) and can fully compare those effects so it makes it easier for you to understand what you've just said.

Pate · 12 Sep 2011 at 22:13

GJ02 said:
im was thinking more along the lines of

talking to a sock on my washing line for a good 20 mins, and seeing a man with a donkeys head in the pub, thinking i was in china when i was in bed with my wife, following a light in the sky for 25 mins across chester, thinking it was a spaceship when infact it was a star ( and telling tourists passing me by that it was a spaceship )
not giving them enough time, and taking more then realising im totally screwed

oooh thems the days