Make the Magic Stop

Like Jesse Walker, I was surprised to hear that psilocybin mushrooms will soon be banned in the U.K.--mainly because I hadn't realized they were still legal there. In a recent Guardian column, Mark Honigsbaum explains that until now only dried or otherwise processed 'shrooms were forbidden. But this summer even the fresh variety will be placed in the same legal category as crack and heroin. Honigsbaum says the legislation, a token of the Labour Party's toughness on drugs, "is so flawed it could even see Her Majesty banged up at her own pleasure for permitting psycilocybe mushrooms to flourish at Windsor and Balmoral."

[Thanks to Thomas Roberts for the link.]

Comments

smacky | May 24, 2005, 4:02pm | #

Aha! Just the person I was looking for. Jacob, this is OT, but do you know where I can find the most up-to-date information on Ohio Blue Laws? I want to go to a festival this weekend, but I'm not sure if they will be serving alcohol on Sunday. I'm looking for a web resource where I can check the alcohol codes. Would you or anyone else happen to know?

Phil Conti | May 24, 2005, 4:09pm | #

I have gotten into some legal trouble with shrooms, blacking out and all....

Brian | May 24, 2005, 4:23pm | #

Blacked out on shrooms. Seriously?

Luke Thomas | May 24, 2005, 4:25pm | #

If you blacked out on shrooms, can I get the number of your dealer?

joe | May 24, 2005, 4:29pm | #

Maybe you shouldn't have washed them down with Absolut.

Steve | May 24, 2005, 4:36pm | #

Good point, joe. Jim Beam works much better.

JimmyPete | May 24, 2005, 4:40pm | #

the legislation is so flawed it could even see Her Majesty banged up at her own pleasure for permitting psycilocybe mushrooms to flourish at Windsor and Balmoral.

Wow, that sucks. So anyone who owns property will be required to check their premises for psylocybin mushrooms on a regular basis? And then what, their allready in posession of a class A drug. I guess you can just apply a powerful fungicide to land on regular basis.

s.a.m. | May 24, 2005, 5:19pm | #

For crying out loud, the UK wouldn't even be on the fucking map if the Beatles didn't eat the magic shrooms and the acid, man! Mick Jagger and Keith Richards would be nothing more than fucktwits without the goods. Sir Paul McCartney my ass!

daksya | May 24, 2005, 5:59pm | #

That Guardian article also has some bloopers.

In fact, as Brian Iddon, an organic chemist and the only committee member qualified to give a scientific view, told Flint, mushrooms are psychedelics, not hallucinogens, and cannot be compared to LSD. And he could find no evidence that mushrooms were addictive or harmful.

LSD and Psilocin, both share the same general mechanism i.e. both are 5-HT2A partial agonists. Psilocin is actually known for more vivid visuals than LSD, and is less introspective for many. That would make shrooms an 'hallucinogen' and acid a 'psychedelic'. Just more nonsense, although I think Iddon is just trying o salvage shrooms by semantically divorcing their partial homogeneity to acid.

Jason Sonenshein | May 24, 2005, 6:21pm | #

Smacky, The Ohio Division of Liquor Control has a list of currently approved temporary permits. I hope this helps.

Douglas Fletcher | May 25, 2005, 4:31am | #

Isn't Britain a little on the cool side for there to be much in the way of those mushrooms growing there? I thought they only thrived in hot places nearer to the tropics.

British Libertarian | May 25, 2005, 4:40pm | #

Douglas; NO they grow in the woods and forests of the Uk, i think they mainly occour in the south and south east, but they do grow here. As do a lot of other shrooms.

Dogzilla | May 25, 2005, 11:02pm | #

Just catching on to magic mushrooms? It'll probably be years before they get aroung to banning toad-licking. Although I tend to doubt any Colorado River Toads will be found lurking on the banks of the Avon or the Tyne...