Photo by Perutskyy
While there is a consensus that a worldwide psychedelic renaissance is underway, it appears that it remains in its gestation period. In terms of popularized psychedelics such as the classic tryptamines (LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline), access remains restricted to research studies, religious use, and in rare cases, medical interventions. For the public, these compounds are only available through illicit means—the unregulated street market.
Some perceptive companies have observed this gap and filled it with various products marketed as psychedelics. One of the most fascinating “psychedelics” out of this newly re-discovered cohort of compounds is Amanita muscaria. Federally, Amanita muscaria is completely unscheduled as a controlled substance and remains legal in almost all states. Amanita muscaria is a mushroom with a long history of use and confirmed psychoactive effects—but what is it, and should companies label it a psychedelic compound?
History of Amanita Muscaria: The Culturally Iconic Mushroom
Amanita muscaria is a culturally pervasive image. Many know the famous red and white mushroom for causing augmentation in Mario video games. It is also the mushroom from Alice in Wonderland, which notably does the opposite for Alice. There is even an emoji that clearly references the red-topped white-spotted mushroom.
Due to its global pre-historical usage, it has also become pictorially synonymous with hallucinogenic mushrooms in general.
Evidence shows that Siberians used Amanita muscaria over 4,000 years ago. According to an entry in the peer-reviewed journal Encyclopedia, the pre-historic tribes in Siberia consumed the mushroom for both religious and recreational purposes. At the time, Amanita muscaria was the only psychoactive compound available for Siberians, “before the availability of alcohol brought by Slavic travelers.”
Some Siberian tribes reportedly ingested the urine of humans or reindeer who had consumed the mushroom. Because the principal psychoactive compounds in Amanita muscaria remain intact after consumption and excretion, researchers believe that these tribes used the urine process as a kind of filter.
Further, research in ethnomycology—the study of how cultures interact with mushrooms—discovered that Amanita muscaria was consumed “during ceremonies of mystery cults, such as the Dionysian Mysteries in Greece and the Mithraic Mysteries in Rome,” according to the Encyclopedia report. Like the Siberians, the Romans and Greeks used Amanita muscaria in these ceremonies to induce a trance-like state in the recipients.
The seminal ethnobotanist Gordan Wasson argued that Amanita muscaria produced the long-elusive and enigmatic drug soma. Soma is a famous archaic drink that ancient Hindu texts celebrate and describe.
Is Amanita Muscaria a Psychedelic?
Amanita muscaria certainly has a rich history, and is culturally ubiquitous. But what exactly are its effects? And would one call those effects psychedelic?
The mushroom’s main psychotropic compounds are muscimol and ibotenic acid. Many refer to Amanita muscaria and its compounds (primarily ibotenic acid) as a deliriant. A deliriant is a hallucinogen that causes hyperactivity and general confusion. However, some describe this experience as pleasurable and, particularly in low doses, relaxing.
ACS Lab explains that Amanita muscaria doesn’t “act on the same receptors as psilocybin or psilocin.” Magic mushrooms, such as psilocybin cubensis, are psychedelics that bind to serotonin receptors. Muscimol binds to the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors that induce depressive and sedative effects. Ibotenic acid, on the other hand, binds to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors that cause neuroexcitation (increased activity of the central nervous system).
Due to the crucial difference in psychoactivity, Amanita muscaria is sometimes excluded from the psychedelic category entirely. According to City Conscious Guides, “[w]hile the dreamlike states they produce are said to be euphoric and ethereal, they differ wildly to the psychedelic experiences induced by psilocybin.”
Amanita muscaria is also distinct from other psychedelics due to its toxicity. Amanita muscaria is highly toxic—even lethal—especially at high doses, according to the CDC. Psychedelics, especially LSD and psilocybin, are well-known for being non-toxic except at extremely high doses.
Because of its toxicity and classification as a deliriant, many object to Amanita muscaria’s status as a psychedelic. Others are critical of the limiting definition applied to psychedelics. Some think that psychedelics should use a more expansive, capacious definition that is inclusive of compounds such as muscimol.
Amanita Muscaria Products Today
Although there have been concerns with Amanita muscaria, today’s muscimol products, while not perfect, do appear to ameliorate many of the principal problems.
Modern production processes such as solvent extraction or making synthetic muscimol partially address the mushroom’s toxicity. Both these contemporary procedures remove the toxic elements in Amanita muscaria.
Additionally, proper dosing circumvents many of the undesirable delirious effects. Most doses of muscimol and ibotenic acid, produced by legal suppliers who make gummies or chocolate bars, remain under doses of 10-15 mg and 50-100 mg, respectively.
Less-than-ideal regulatory standards, similar to that of legal cannabinoids in non-recreational states, do result in some potential problems. Sometimes, companies list Amanita muscaria products as “magic mushrooms” to capitalize on the interest in psilocybin. This leads to confusion for a consumer who believes that they are ingesting a psychedelic mushroom such as psilocybin, to later find out it was muscimol and ibotenic acid.
While many celebrate the fact that a psychotropic mushroom is freely sold and remains legal, there are reminders to exercise caution to the lack of regulatory oversight and deceptive marketing. Earlier this year, two suspected deaths and 144 illnesses were attributed to a “psychedelic” mushroom manufacturer, selling Amanita muscaria products such as chocolate bars and gummies.
The company, Diamond Shruumz, had products recalled after FDA testing, “turned up an array of other substances in the recalled products, and muscimol in less than half of them.”
It is clear that Amanita muscaria products are (relatively) safe. Yet these instances of deadly negligence demonstrate the core safety-concern with gray-area substances: Not the compound itself, but rather the possibility that the unregulated product is something else entirely.
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