Psilocybin and Psilocin
March 9, 2000 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780195084771.003.0374 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review |
|---|---|
| Topics | LSD Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Mushroom Eleventh Agaricales Traditional medicine Jungian analytical psychology |
| Key findings | Psilocybin mushrooms have a long history of ritual use and are recreationally used by adolescents, with surveys showing higher use than LSD among college students and notable use among California middle and high school students. |
Abstract
Abstract Psilocybin and psilocin are indolealkylamines present in Central American Psilocybe species of mushrooms and in Panaeolus mushroom species of the United States (3,4). For thousands of years, Mexican Native Americans have eaten Psilocybe mushrooms ritualistically for their hallucinatory and psychedelic (“mind-revealing”) properties. In the United States during the 1980s, recreational use of mush rooms became popular among adolescents (1). A survey of American college students revealed that 15% had used mushrooms compared to only 5% who had used o-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) (7). A survey in California found that psilocybin-containing mushrooms had been used by 3.4% of seventh graders and 8.8% of eleventh graders (6). Mail-order catalogues directed toward the drug culture advertise spores of various psilocybin-and psilocin-containing species that can be grown at home (3). Both Psilocybe and Panaeolus species are used to induce hallucinatory effects (1,3,5). Mushrooms are usually dried or frozen; cooking does not destroy the psychoactive compounds.