Mushroom-based nootropic edibles are hitting the shelves of your local headshops and gas stations. They promise mental clarity and creativity boosts. But when those gummies send you to the ER with seizures and a vomiting fit, you’ll probably think you’re achieving higher consciousness when you’re really just poisoned.
The trend is riding the wave of chic psychedelic wellness culture supplements promoted by podcasters. These podcasters’ only expertise in the field begins and ends with eating some shrooms to get over the misery of bombing at a Duluth-area comedy club.
That’s the argument set forth by Joshua Kellogg, assistant professor of natural product chemistry at Penn State University. Writing in The Conversation, Kellogg argues that the market’s current obsession with micro-dosing mushrooms started innocently and safely.
Even though it was federally illegal at first, it is now being decriminalized in some jurisdictions across the country. However, companies with dollar signs for eyes leapt into the market without proper expertise or even the desire to create a safe, high-quality product.
People Are Trying to Microdose Mushrooms and Ending Up Poisoned
To dodge legal red tape, they’ve turned to other fungi that aren’t on the FDA’s radar. That includes names like Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Chaga, and a real wildcard of a ‘shroom, Amanita muscaria. It’s a red-capped, white-dotted mushroom that looks like it was pulled straight out of a dorm room black light poster.
Unlike psilocybin, Amanita mushrooms contain compounds like muscimol and ibotenic acid. They’re not technically illegal, but they’re far more toxic. In 2016, only 45 poisoning cases in the U.S. involved Amanita mushrooms.
Nowadays, poison control centers are logging hundreds of calls annually about symptoms from nausea and seizures to full-on cardiovascular issues, often after people consume gummies or chocolates that were supposed to help them focus at work.
Part of the problem, Kellogg argues, is labeling. Many of these nootropic products fall into the “proprietary blend” loophole that lets companies skip disclosing specific ingredients or mushroom species.
A 2023 investigation into five hospitalizations found not just Amanita toxins, but also unlisted substances like caffeine, ephedrine, psilocybin, and mitragynin. These “mind-enhancing” edibles people take to boost productivity, which are often sold as all-natural supplements, are usually the exact opposite: just a mixed bag of substances, some of which these companies would rather not tell you about.
Adding to the danger is the rampant issue of mushroom misidentification in the industry. Makes sense, considering that even the most seasoned forager can get it wrong sometimes. But now, you don’t even have to forage in the woods to get fungi-based diarrhea and vomiting. You can pick up some Gummies from a gas station that will do the same thing.
Until regulators catch up, that mushroom gummy you picked up from the counter at that one might boost your brain, but it can also melt it.
The post People Are Microdosing Mushrooms—and Poisoning Themselves appeared first on VICE.
