It is celebrated in some circles, touted even by some hoteliers as the latest pull factor for foreigners to the island, but the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) says it is keeping eye on the proliferation of ‘magic mushrooms’, for which there is no regulation in law.
Magic mushrooms are a version of the plant that contains psilocybin or psilocin chemicals, which cause users to hallucinate - feeling, seeing, and hearing things that are unreal. They are sold in fresh, dried, or powder form and can be inhaled, injected, taken as a tea, or cooked with food. Magic mushrooms can lead to tolerance and dependence, experts say.
Outside of research purposes, the drug is illegal in Canada while some states like Oregon in the United States have legalised its usage. Jamaican laws, however, are silent on the drug as various mushroom conferences are held in Jamaica, and local dispensaries stock it in their showcases.
“It is not illegal in Jamaica, and people are actually growing it here,” said Michael Tucker, executive director of the NCDA. “First of all, we would have to get the Dangerous Drugs Act amended to include the mushrooms and then put regulations in place to control it.”
WEED OUT ABUSE
Tucker, while noting that the drug is not illegal, acknowledged that there are individuals who use it successfully for therapeutic reasons, but that there are others who will abuse it, and amending the regulations will help to weed out the latter. Furthermore, there ought to be public sensitisation about its usage, he said.
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“If used in the wrong volume or misused, it can cause psychotic episodes. Some of the psychiatrists have seen patients present with problems surrounding the misuse of mushrooms. Some people have gone to A&E to get assistance,” said Tucker, noting that users are of all ages.
Even some of the marijuana dispensaries have ventured into the sale of magic mushrooms, he said, confirming observations carried out by The Gleaner over the last week. But they, too, have nothing stopping them from selling the hallucinogen, a representative close to the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) explained on Tuesday.
Each dispensary must operate with a cannabis licence. That licence, however, does not limit them to selling cannabis-related products only.
NO RESTRICTION
“We do find that some licensees may sell it, but since there is no law that restricts persons from selling it, they just go ahead and do. They wouldn’t be breaking the licensing agreement because the CLA does not have jurisdiction over that,” said the source, who was not authorised to speak to the media.
“What CLA has jurisdiction over is the ganja buds and the extracts, which is the oil and resins. So any paraphernalia that they chose to sell, they can. There is no restriction. The CLA can’t really do anything on that.”
Last week, three dispensaries in the Corporate Area confirmed that they sold mushrooms. There is mushroom chocolate, gummies, chewing gum, raw mushroom, mushroom iced tea, and mushroom capsules. One location had raw mushroom, gummies, and tea for $500 per gram each while at the other two locations, gummies were being sold for $2,500 while capsules could cost customers as much as $10,000, a store attendant said.
“If it is your first time taking mushrooms, I suggest you start from the iced tea and then work your way up to the raw mushroom. After that you can try the capsule,” he said, noting that magic mushrooms are growing in demand.
On the street, The Gleaner understands that the drug can also be had for $4,500 for six capsules. One supplier said he paid US$800 per pound plus importation to bring it into the country. Customers can purchase the mushrooms raw, but it would cost them much more than the capsules, he explained.
Tucker was speaking on the heels of the launch of an early warning drug-detection system earlier this month. That system, he said, is part of a network involving various stakeholders charged with alerting the authorities whenever a new drug surfaces on the island. It is an avenue of proactively dealing with the drug problem and could have efficiently alerted officials to the recent ‘molly’ fad, which took root among the youths.
Not only does Tucker want amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act, but he also wants lawmakers to make the law flexible “so that anything that surfaces as being misused, and which really does not have any practical medical application, should be placed on the list of banned substances”.
corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com
