(Yarphoto/Getty Images) Calls to poison control centers spiked across the U.S. for adolescents and young adults exposed to the hallucinogen psilocybin , according to our analysis of data from 55 U.S. poison centers between 2013 and 2022.
The calls increased after 2019 when psilocybin was decriminalized and legalized in several cities and states.
Psilocybin is a compound found in "magic mushrooms ," a popular recreational drug that was decriminalized for the first time by Denver, Colorado, in 2019.
Decriminalizing doesn’t mean psilocybin is legal, but it directs the police to focus on other crimes. Denver also was the first city to legalize small amounts of marijuana in 2005 and continues to push for changing drug policy.
Magic mushrooms are legal to purchase, possess and even cultivate in just two states: Oregon , which legalized psilocybin in 2020, and Colorado , which followed in 2022.
We are an emergency medicine physician and epidemiologist . Part of our job is to track public health risks related to poisons and to create efforts to prevent them. We are both concerned about the increase in calls to poison control centers related to psilocybin. Why it matters
When someone ingests magic mushrooms, psilocybin gives them a psychedelic experience, causing euphoria and alterations in how they perceive space and time.
Using psilocybin can also cause psychosis, hallucinations, delusions and agitation. In the U.S., psilocybin is designated as a Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substances Act , meaning it has no accepted medical use and has a high potential for abuse .
Our study demonstrates a steady increase in psilocybin exposures in adolescents beginning in 2019. Some of these young people experienced serious health effects.This increase in calls happened just as Denver voters passed a ballot measure to become the first city to decriminalize in May 2019.Since then, several other cities, including Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Seattle , have also decriminalized psilocybin. Other cities and states have legislation pending.The poison center data we used in our study isn’t broken down by state, so it is impossible to know exactly where the calls were coming from – and whether they were in […]
An Alarming Thing Happens Whenever Magic Mushrooms Are Decriminalized
