Magic mushrooms

By eating it

After picking, liberty caps are often eaten raw or are dried out and stored. People don’t tend to eat fly agaric mushrooms raw as they can make you feel very sick.

By drinking it

Some people make tea from dried mushrooms.

By taking drops of liquid psilocybin

Liquid psilocybin is made by extracting psilocybin, the naturally occurring psychedelic drug found in mushrooms like liberty caps.

The strength of magic mushrooms varies depending on their freshness, the season and where they grow. It's very difficult to predict the strength of magic mushrooms.

For most people, the world appears distorted when they take mushrooms. Colours, sounds, objects and even time can all seem very different.

Some people get mild hallucinations, which are also called ‘visuals’.

Taking mushrooms can make you feel:

• very giggly
• euphoric
• in awe of the people and things around you
• energised
• excited

It can also make you feel:

• paranoid
• anxious
• panicked
• overwhelmed
• like vomiting

How you feel will be affected by how much you take, your surroundings, who you’re with and how comfortable you are with them, as well as by your mood.

So if you’re in a bad mood, feeling worried or depressed, the magic mushrooms might just make those feelings worse.

This depends on how many magic mushrooms the person takes. If the person takes a small dose of mushrooms you may not even notice that they’re on it.

People who take larger doses of mushrooms can act unpredictably. They can laugh a lot, become fixated on certain things, be emotional or get paranoid.

How long the effects last and the drug stays in your system depends on how much you’ve taken, your size and what other drugs you may have also taken.

If you feel like you’re having – or are going to have – a bad trip, let your friends know and get their help. Go to a nice quiet spot where you feel safe and can relax.

Psilocybin is detectable for up to 8 hours.

How long a drug can be detected for depends on how much is taken and which testing kit is used. This is only a general guide.

Mixing drugs is always risky but some mixtures are more dangerous than others.

Magic mushrooms are not addictive, but as with LSD, you can become tolerant to the effects quite quickly – and that means you’ll need to take more to get the same effect as before.

Like drink-driving, driving when high is dangerous and illegal. If you’re caught driving under the influence, you may receive a heavy fine, driving ban, or prison sentence.

If the police catch people supplying illegal drugs in a home, club, bar or hostel, they can potentially prosecute the landlord, club owner or any other person concerned in the management of the premises.

The 2005 Drugs Act amended the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 to clarify that both fresh and prepared (e.g. dried or stewed) magic mushrooms containing psilocin or psilocybin (such as the liberty cap) are Class A drugs.

This means it’s illegal to have this type of magic mushroom for yourself, to give away or to sell.