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 motaman
old hand
Registered: 12/18/02
Posts: 6,044
Last seen: 4 months, 29 days
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 On sale: 'mind-blowing' mushrooms 
#1671686 - 06/29/03 05:03 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/content_objectid=13123739_method=full_siteid=50002_headline=-On-sale---mind-blowing--mushrooms-name_page.html
On sale: 'mind-blowing' mushrooms Jun 29 2003
By Fionnuala Bourke, Sunday Mercury
Psychedelic magic mushrooms are being openly sold in the Midlands because of a legal loophole.
The fungi contain the hallucinogens psilocin and psilocybin, which are both Class A drugs.
But the Home Office says it is NOT illegal to sell the mushrooms in their fresh state unless they have been ?altered? by freezing or drying out.
Now new-age traders are cashing in on the legal confusion by offering the powerful drugs for as little as ?10 a packet.
Zen, based in Moseley, Birmingham, has a placard outside its premises openly promoting the mushrooms.
And the company claims that a policeman and tax inspector have been among its customers.
?We sell Mexican Shamanic Mushrooms which we recommend to be used in meditation,? said Zen director Lizzie Goodman.
?The mushrooms are fresh. If they become dried out, they become a Class A drug which we do not recommend to our customers.
?We have recently found a supplier who can provide us with stock to sell all year round.
?Our customers come from all walks of life and have included a policeman and tax inspector. We are careful not to sell to children, though, and all our products are thoroughly researched.
?The mushrooms have been very popular in the run-up to this weekend?s Glastonbury Festival.?
A detailed list of guidelines is provided with the fungi, also known as Mexican Psylicibe, to ensure that buyers enjoy ?the true spirit of the Shamanic experience?.
A Home Office spokesman said that magic mushrooms were not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
But they do contain psilocin and psilocybin, which are controlled Class A drugs.
The courts have ruled that a person is not technically in possession of a controlled drug solely by being in possession of a naturally occurring substance - the mushroom - which contains that drug.
But it is an offence under the 1971 Act to possess a ?product? of the controlled drugs psilocin or psilocybin.
The courts have also ruled that mushrooms that have been frozen and packaged constituted a product containing the Class A drug.
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: ?It is not illegal to sell or grow magic mushrooms in their raw form.
?But the drug that is taken from magic mushrooms, psilocin, is a Class A drug and it is an offence to prepare the mushrooms for the purpose of extracting that drug.?
The Drug Action Team in Birmingham said that when the mushrooms were eaten in dried form, cooked in food or stewed into a tea, they were similar in effect to LSD.
Team spokesman Dr Jacky Chambers said the mushrooms were potentially harmful, especially to young people who may try experimenting with the fungi.
?We would ask parents to be aware of the potential dangers of these activities in order to ensure young people are protected from the dangers of drugs,? she added.
?Magic mushrooms and cannabis continue to be harmful substances.?
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 Sorted
Monkee
Registered: 12/27/98
Posts: 301
Loc: UK
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 Re: On sale: 'mind-blowing' mushrooms [Re: motaman]
#1671909 - 06/29/03 06:58 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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I wondered how long it would be before the media in this country started reporting this. Numerous shops have jumped on the bandwagon and openly sell them, sometimes as high as ?1 ($1.60) per WET gram of cubensis at some greedy retailers. I can see at some point the moral minority getting on their soap boxes and calling for changes in the law if sales continue to increase. I believe that's why Japan closed the exact same legal loophole a year or so back after the rising popularity of mushrooms being sold by headshops.
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Jackal
Well Versed In Etiquette
Registered: 10/16/02
Posts: 4,576
Last seen: 1 month, 9 days
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Re: On sale: 'mind-blowing' mushrooms [Re: Sorted]
#1672952 - 06/30/03 04:26 AM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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I agree, the rise in popularity will soon see the loophole closed. 
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Anonymous
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Re: On sale: 'mind-blowing' mushrooms [Re: motaman]
#1676764 - 07/01/03 01:32 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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?We sell Mexican Shamanic Mushrooms which we recommend to be used in meditation,? said Zen director Lizzie Goodman.
?The mushrooms are fresh. If they become dried out, they become a Class A drug which we do not recommend to our customers.
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