Many of the arguments against the decriminalization and legalization of magic mushrooms focus around the notion that they are unsafe, particularly when compared to marijuana which is far further down the line of legalization than any psychedelics are.  However, is this really the case?

According to the Global Drug Survey of 2019, shrooms may, on the contrary, actually be the safest recreational drug out there.  The data collected for the survey covered 110,000 participants from 50 countries, 11,000 of which had taken shrooms before.  The data showed that, in comparison to other recreational drugs such as cannabis, MDMA, cocaine, methamphetamines and LSD, mushrooms had the lowest rate of users who needed to seek medical treatment while under the influence. 

According to the results, only 0.6% of users who had taken shrooms had to seek emergency treatment, compared to 4.1% of methamphetamine users and 3.2% of synthetic cannabinoid users.  Of course, these are known for being more dangerous recreational drugs, which is why it is worth looking at the rates for alcohol (2%) and cocaine (1%); it may come as more of a surprise that the rates for these were higher than that of shrooms.  Furthermore, it has been reported by researchers that death from toxicity is practically unheard of from taking shrooms.

It is worth noting that this does not make shrooms entirely harmless.  When consumed alongside alcohol and in a setting you are not comfortable in, they can cause harm by injury as well as panic, confusion or disorientation.  Some report having panic attacks or vivid flashbacks, and therefore it is safest to take them in a place you feel comfortable and safe in.  Plan your trip beforehand, and ensure you are surrounded by people who you trust as well as being sure you are using the correct kind of mushrooms.

However, these potential side-effects are of an entirely different severity to adverse effects caused by other drugs such as heroin, for example, which has a lethal dose and overdose may have to be treated with resuscitation or medication.  Psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin do not have a known lethal dose, which brings to the forefront the question of why they are controlled to the same level and treated the same way in the eyes of the law.

Furthermore, there is no evidence that you can become dependent on psychedelics, nor is there evidence that they cause any adverse long term side effects the same way that most other recreational drugs do.  In fact, long term side effects from psychedelics tend to be reported as overwhelmingly positive, as they are said to improve mental wellbeing over the course of users’ lives as well as allowing them a more profound look at their values and life as a whole.

Why Stigma?

So why the stigma? There has been an influx of diverse and interesting conversations surrounding shrooms since the legalization in the state of Oregon after November’s elections last year.  This made Oregon the first US state to legalize the substance, and this brought to light a lot of views that voters had on the matter.  Mostly, the conversations that were had were ones encouraging hesitant voters to consider some of the objectively more dangerous drugs that are perfectly legal in the US.  Additionally, the conversation was often used with reference to the mental health epidemic being experienced in Oregon; it was argued that voters should be able to see past stigma in favor of legalizing a substance that could massively improve rates of depression throughout the state.

The stigma appears to mostly stem from the idea of ‘hard’ drugs being used more freely, which is often rejected by voters.  This potentially makes sense given that there has historically been little to no distinction between types of illegal substances. Therefore shrooms have long been seen as equal to cocaine or ketamine, both of which are more dangerous to use according to the global drug survey in both 2017 and 19.  However, the time for removing this stigma is now, seeing as we have the information that tells us they are, in fact, the safest recreational drug that you can take.