3 ms·

Mushrooms don't sound safe at all, as far as I know mushrooms have to be grown exactly right or they may develop deadly fungi. I don't know how willing I'd be

by vivekd 9y ago

Mushrooms don't sound safe at all, as far as I know mushrooms have to be grown exactly right or they may develop deadly fungi. I don't know how willing I'd be to trust an unregulated drug operation to grow my mushrooms properly. I understand that the risk of deadly contamination also exists with non-hallucinogenic store-bought mushrooms, however, there is a world of difference between trusting a regulated business with your potentially deadly food and trusting a criminal drug gang. I wonder how much the purported "safety" of mushrooms are just because they are rarely used. This survey finds that meth and synthetic cannabis are the most dangerous drugs,and maybe that's more a result of the fact that they are just so widespread than actual danger. Also, looking at medical treatment alone might be misleading without looking at severity of the condition. Contaminated mushrooms can easily result in death. Also, I wonder if they even included contaminated mushrooms in the study of emergency room visits. The article uses the vague sentence: >“Death from toxicity is almost unheard of with poisoning with more dangerous fungi being a much greater risk in terms of serious harms.” This makes me wonder if the study choose not to consider emergency room visits as a result of contaminated mushrooms. Sure uncontaminated mushrooms are relatively safe, but given how easily they can become contaminated and deadly, I would question their reputation as a "safe drug."

cbanek 9y ago
I've never personally heard any stories of "contaminated mushrooms". But there are other similar risks - like mistaking poisonous mushrooms for magic mushrooms. In general, magic mushrooms are either cultivated indoors by someone in a terrarium and keeping the environment just right. To even grow the mushrooms (which are fairly weak compared to most other fungi and bacteria) you actually need to start by sterilizing the substrate, usually by boiling, then you inoculate with a sterile needle the spores. Overall, this is pretty safe because pretty much any kind of contamination, the fungi won't fruit (you eat the fruiting bodies), so there's just not really any mushrooms to give you. The other way is of course to go mushroom hunting. This is a lot more dangerous, because there are mushrooms that are poisonous that will straight up kill you. It can be hard to tell the difference sometimes, especially if you don't know what you're looking for. One last thing is your body already kind of knows they are a toxin. Many people feel ill or sick to their stomach after ingesting them, and some will throw up. In terms of drug safety, eating things is probably one of the safest, because your body is always ready to expel bad food. The least safe of course is probably straight injection, and smoking isn't too great for you either. I won't say they're safe, but what really is in this world?
mikelyons 9y ago
Detection of contaminated mushrooms is no different than detection of contaminated food, if there's mold on it, don't eat it. It's not that involved a process to cultivate mushrooms, you're making a lot of assumptions. It might be worth researching the process if you're interested.
zardo 9y ago
>Mushrooms don't sound safe at all, as far as I know mushrooms have to be grown exactly right or they may develop deadly fungi. This is no more true of psilocybes than it is of shitakes.

by vivekd 9y ago

cbanek 9y ago

I've never personally heard any stories of "contaminated mushrooms". But there are other similar risks - like mistaking poisonous mushrooms for magic mushrooms. In general, magic mushrooms are either cultivated indoors by someone in a terrarium and keeping the environment just right. To even grow the mushrooms (which are fairly weak compared to most other fungi and bacteria) you actually need to start by sterilizing the substrate, usually by boiling, then you inoculate with a sterile needle the spores. Overall, this is pretty safe because pretty much any kind of contamination, the fungi won't fruit (you eat the fruiting bodies), so there's just not really any mushrooms to give you. The other way is of course to go mushroom hunting. This is a lot more dangerous, because there are mushrooms that are poisonous that will straight up kill you. It can be hard to tell the difference sometimes, especially if you don't know what you're looking for. One last thing is your body already kind of knows they are a toxin. Many people feel ill or sick to their stomach after ingesting them, and some will throw up. In terms of drug safety, eating things is probably one of the safest, because your body is always ready to expel bad food. The least safe of course is probably straight injection, and smoking isn't too great for you either. I won't say they're safe, but what really is in this world?

mikelyons 9y ago

Detection of contaminated mushrooms is no different than detection of contaminated food, if there's mold on it, don't eat it. It's not that involved a process to cultivate mushrooms, you're making a lot of assumptions. It might be worth researching the process if you're interested.

zardo 9y ago

>Mushrooms don't sound safe at all, as far as I know mushrooms have to be grown exactly right or they may develop deadly fungi. This is no more true of psilocybes than it is of shitakes.