How many types of hallucinogenic mushrooms are there

Drug Class: Psilocybin is classified as a hallucinogen. Common Side Effects: Magic mushrooms are known to cause nausea, yawning, feeling relaxed or drowsy, introspective experience, nervousness, paranoia, panic, hallucinations, and psychosis. Mushrooms containing psilocybin look like dried ordinary mushrooms with long, slender stems that are whitish-gray and dark brown caps that are light brown or white in the center. Dried mushrooms are a rusty brown color with isolated areas of off-white. Magic mushrooms can be eaten, mixed with food, or brewed like tea for drinking.

They can also be mixed with cannabis or tobacco and smoked. Liquid psilocybin is also available, which is the naturally occurring psychedelic drug found in liberty caps. The liquid is clear brown and comes in a small vial. Magic mushrooms are hallucinogenic drugs, meaning they can cause you to see, hear, and feel sensations that seem real but are not.

The effects of magic mushrooms, however, are highly variable and believed to be influenced by environmental factors.

This video has been medically reviewed by John C. A number of factors influence the effects of magic mushrooms, including dosage, age, weight, personality, emotional state, environment, and history of mental illness. While magic mushrooms are often sought out for a peaceful high, shrooms have been reported to induce anxiety, frightening hallucinations, paranoia, and confusion in some.

Hospital admissions related to the use of magic mushrooms are often connected to what is known colloquially as a "bad trip. Magic mushrooms have been used for thousands of years for both spiritual and medicinal uses among indigenous people of America and Europe.

Shrooms have a long history of being associated with spiritual experiences and self-discovery. Many believe that naturally occurring drugs like magic mushrooms, weed , and mescaline are sacred herbs that enable people to attain superior spiritual states.

Others take magic mushrooms to experience a sense of euphoria, connection, and a distorted sense of time. The psilocybin found in shrooms is converted to psilocin in the body and is believed to influence serotonin levels in the brain, leading to altered and unusual perceptions.

The effects take 20 to 40 minutes to begin and can last up to 6 hours—the same amount of time it takes for psilocin to be metabolized and excreted.

Researchers tend to advise against self-medicating with psilocybin because outside of a clinical setting, it may be harder to manage your anxiety while under the influence potentially leading to a bad trip , you may take too high of a dosage, and it's hard to know the purity of the drug if you're purchasing it from an unregulated source.

In addition, people with pre-existing mental health conditions may be more likely to experience adverse effects from psilocybin. In , researchers from Johns Hopkins University recommended reclassification of psilocybin from Schedule I to Schedule IV in order to allow for medical use.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins found that psilocybin was an effective treatment for depression and nicotine and alcohol addictions, as well as other substance use disorders. Studies have shown that magic mushrooms were effective and relieving the emotional distress of people with life-threatening cancer diagnoses. One study found that people who self-medicated with small dosages of psilocybin were able to relieve cluster headaches while avoiding any psychoactive effects of the drug.

The Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins is also researching how psychedelics affect a variety of conditions such as:.

In , Denver became the first city to decriminalize mushrooms. Oakland became the second city less than a month later. Other U. This does not mean that shrooms are legal but that the city is not permitted to "spend resources to impose criminal penalties" on people in possession of the drug.

However, in , Oregon became the first state to legalize psilocybin-assisted therapy. All hallucinogens carry the risk of triggering mental and emotional problems and causing accidents while under the influence. Among adolescents, magic mushrooms are frequently taken in combination with alcohol and other drugs, increasing the psychological and physical risks.

The amount of psilocybin and psilocin contained in any given magic mushroom is unknown, and mushrooms vary greatly in the amounts of psychoactive contents. This means it's very hard to tell the length, intensity, and type of "trip" someone will experience. Some people consider this a definitive sign of finding a magic mushroom, but some toxic types of mushrooms bruise as well. It's usually found in moist, humid climates and grows on the dung of grazing animals like cattle.

Psilocybe semilanceata or liberty cap is a common psilocybin mushroom. In general, P. It's a small mushroom, either light yellow or brown, with a very pointed cap. Another psilocybe mushroom, Psilocybe pelliculosa, is often mistaken for P. Psilocybe baeocystis has a dark brown cap and brownish or yellowish stem when fresh. It can be found in fields in addition to growing on rotting logs, peat or mulch.

Nicknames include potent Psilocybe , blue bell and bottle cap. Cite This! However, flying saucers—named for their unique UFO-like shape—are known for their intense visuals and profound inner journeys. Their potent strength also makes them popular for microdosing according to strain database Psillow , and you would need very little for intended effects.

These are the type of psilocybin mushrooms that are sold at specialty shops and given at magic truffle retreats in the Netherlands through a legal loophole. In fact, they are very rare to find in the wild, but have become popular for home cultivators due to their relative ease of growing.

The experience of magic truffles in comparison to other psilocybin-containing mushrooms is said to be very similar, but depending on the dose, somewhat less intense. Psilocybe zapotecorum is another species native to Mexico that has current and likely ancient ceremonial use. In the Zapotec language, P. Psilocybe zapotecorum also grows outside of Mexico, and has been found in subtropical South America, including Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and Argentina. Psilocybe cyanescens is known as the Wavy Cap mushroom because of the rippled shape of its cap.

It was first formally identified by Elsie Wakefield in England in , although according to Psilopedia , she had been collecting Cyans since Wavy caps are known to be potent and can contain between 0. However these mushrooms are different in a few ways. Copelandia cyanescens prefer to live in dung in pastures and fields in warmer, subtropical climates. Panaeolus cyanescens is very similar to Panaeolus tropicalis, which also contains psilocybin and grows in similar dung-loving environments.

They were first reported by the scientific community near Montgomery, Alabama, in on sugar cane mulch, and to this day, can be found in the Southern US in states like South Carolina and Georgia. Derrumbes are still used ceremoniously by the Mazatec people of Oaxaca, Mexico, and continue to grow in the Sierra Madre mountain range. Derrumbes are small, with stems ranging from 40 to mm 1. Their potency is low to moderate, and the trip can even be a bit shorter, lasting from three to six hours.

Psilocybe mexicana has a rich history. Hoffman, the chemist who discovered LSD , used that sample to cultivate more magic mushrooms and isolate psilocybin and psilocin for the first time in a lab. The species is common at altitudes between and meters to feet , and prefers to live in moss, meadows, deciduous forests, and soils rich in manure, as well as alongside roads and trails—but never directly on dung.

Although, their fruiting bodies generally contain more psilocybin, psilocin, and baeocystin according to Psillow. Psilocybe caerulipes, also known as the Blue Foot Mushroom, is a rare psilocybin mushroom that grows in the US.

Psilocybe baeocyst is very potent and stains darkly blue. Psilocybe baeocystis. Photos by Stan Czolowski. Fairly long term and stable populations may grow in disused clearings that have grown in with alder trees, broom and Rubus plants such as Blackberries and other brambles. Psilocybe cyanescens. Photos by Paul Kroeger and Stan Czolowski. This mushroom is found rarely growing in tangled roots of shrubs and trees along flood zones of wild mountain rivers. It has also been found in landscaped areas in woodchip mulches.

Psilocybe cyanofibrillosa. Photos by Paul Kroeger. This European mushroom has appeared occasionally in grassy fields and grazed pastures in the Lower Mainland.