In the lead up to Halloween and Christmas there is a small window for harvest that more and more thrill seekers are revering in, magic mushroom season.
Before the first frost, and all across the UK, more and more people are starting to pick a wild form of fungi, more commonly known as magic mushrooms, but why?
Josh, a student in Manchester has been picking them for years, he said: “I just love psychedelics. I know which ones to pick, it can be dangerous if you pick the wrong mushroom but if you do your research it’s not hard. Nowadays it’s more about the hunt, that’s what I love, and it’s a lot cheaper compared to what else is out there.”
It’s actually getting easier for those that relish the hunt for mushrooms, as websites such as ‘Reddit’ and ‘magicmushroommap’ give you a great deal of information on where to find them, with the latter even telling you the likely success rate at what time in the day for any particular area. Word of mouth between shroom users is seemingly a thing of the past.
The drug is a class A so possession could get you up to 7 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both, whilst distributing the drug could see you receive up to life in prison, an unlimited fine or both.
The most common magic mushrooms in the UK which contain the psychedelic compound psilocybin, are liberty caps, and only a small handful of which are enough to give you the full experience. The effects of magic mushrooms vary, but hallucinations are always extremely common and can completely determine the ‘trip’ which can go one of two ways. You may also experience giggles and elation or paranoia/anxiety, outer body experiences and nausea.
Dr. Lawrence Weinstein, chief medical officer of American Addiction Centers said: “Psychological distress is the most common adverse effect reported after use of psilocybin. This can range from a ‘bad trip’ to disturbing hallucinations that can last for days.”
The increase in people hunting for their own drugs in fields across the UK could be attributed to an increase in price for street drugs. A student at John Moores University told me: “They’re natural, they grow in the ground, with no added poison that you might get from a £50 bag of coke, it just makes more sense to me.”
The street price of drugs has increased over the course of lockdown due to dealers not wanting to risk getting pulled over in cars to make their regular drop offs, so more risk equals more pay. Picking your own drugs is now becoming the seemingly more viable option. However, I must stress, still illegal.
