Psilocybin Mushrooms and Public Health in Brazil: Insights from a Retrospective Analysis of Adverse Events and Their Implications for Regulatory Discussions.
International journal of medicinal mushrooms January 1, 2025 Marcel Nogueira, Solimary García-Hernández, Gleicy Sotéro Roberto et al. 2 citations
Psilocybin mushrooms pose a very low risk to public health in Brazil compared to other drugs, with no deaths reported over 15 years. Among over 112,000 people seeking medical help for drug-related events, only 13 cases involved psilocybin mushrooms, leading to 6 hospitalizations (0.02% of all drug-related hospitalizations) and no fatalities. Alcohol was the most common agent, and most deaths were linked to cocaine. The findings suggest that current drug policy, which classifies psilocybin as having high abuse potential, overlooks its therapeutic properties and should be re-evaluated for evidence-based regulation to allow safe clinical and ceremonial use.