Mushroom edibles are tripping up users

The company Prophet Premium Blends recalled its Diamond Shruumz edible mushroom products when several people became ill after consuming them. Psychedelics are growing in popularity, creating a market for accessible methods of consumption. Some experts have touted the potential benefits of magic mushrooms, especially for mental health treatments. However, these products lack regulation and so their contents are sometimes inexplicit and potentially unsafe. 

What are mushroom edibles?

There are a variety of species of psychedelic mushrooms. Psilocybin mushrooms, also called magic mushrooms, contain the chemical psilocybin which "can cause people to experience distorted sights and sounds and lose their sense of time and space," as well as cause people to "feel intense emotions ranging from bliss to terror and may have physical side effects such as increased heart rate or nausea," said the National Institute on Drug Abuse. 

The other major variety of psychedelic mushroom is the Amanita muscaria, which "contains a number of chemicals, the most notable being muscimol, a hallucinogenic compound that can alter mood, perception and behavior," said NBC News. While psilocybin has been considered for its potential benefits, the compounds in the Amanita muscaria can be toxic. However, what constitutes a safe dosage of either compound is still unknown.

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Magic mushrooms have made their rounds recreationally in the form of edibles. Mushroom edibles are designed for microdosing, a usage that "refers to consuming small amounts of psychoactive or hallucinogenic substances, enough to reap the benefits while minimizing more debilitating effects," said NBC News. The problem is that these products are largely unregulated and several people have become sick and required hospitalization after consuming them. 

"There is a lot of interest in the therapeutic potential for psilocybin and for good reason. But at the same time, a growing industry may be trying to capitalize on this interest by marketing other mushrooms," Eric Leas, an assistant professor at the UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science said in a press release. "For example, some manufacturers are calling Amanita muscaria products 'magic mushroom gummies' and not disclosing what mushroom the gummies contain, or not making it clear Amanita muscaria is a different mushroom than psilocybin and has essentially no clinical evidence supporting its use as a therapy." 

Mushroom edibles are considered a dietary supplement, which lacks proper federal oversight. Diamond Shruumz edible mushroom products have caused seizures, loss of consciousness, agitation, nausea and vomiting. The effects are a sharp contrast to what the product advertises as its ingredients. "Several toxicology experts said the mushrooms listed as ingredients, such as lion’s mane or ashwagandha, don’t produce the potent effects that the company touts, like relaxation or euphoria," said NBC News. After the Food and Drug Administration tested the products, they found the bars had "higher than normal amounts" of muscimol along with 4-AcO-DMT, also called psilacetin, a "semisynthetic psychoactive drug that's similar to psilocybin, but not the real thing," said Slate. The health effects of psilacetin have not been widely studied. "There's not great quality control around some of these products to know exactly what's in them," Chris Hoyte, the medical director of the Rocky Mountain Poison Center, said to The New York Times. 

Are they all bad?

Some experts and users swear by the therapeutic abilities of magic mushrooms. "People who are dealing with anxiety, depression, addictions or other types of mental health conditions that can be quite difficult to treat are trying to basically DIY and give themselves these different types of natural remedies," Albert Garcia-Romeu, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told Slate. Interest in psychedelic mushrooms including Amanita muscaria has grown exponentially recently. 

The lack of regulation on the product is the biggest risk. "Somebody could slap a label on a package saying it contains four grams of mushrooms, and really, it contains a synthetic," Caleb King, one of the founders of Tryptomics, a Colorado lab that began testing mushroom chocolate bars bought at San Francisco vape shops, said to The Washington Post. "So it comes down to the consumer having to do their research before they're going to be consuming anything." Banning magic mushroom products would also not help the situation. "It's kind of like whack-a-mole, where if you prohibit psilacetin then something else might crop up," Mason Marks, a senior fellow at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics at Harvard Law School, said to NBC News. "Prohibition is not the solution, but educating people about this can be quite helpful."