Psilocybin is taken orally. It can be ingested in food, dried, eaten fresh or brewed in tea (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2009). The drug produces psychotic symptoms similar to those seen in schizophrenia. The user may feel that they are in a dream state; their sense of time is distorted. Perceptions such as sight, sound and touch may seem to blend together. Thinking is impaired and the user cannot distinguish fantasy from reality. Of particular interest to criminal attorneys is that users do not have the ability to act with intention or determine right from wrong when in a psychotic state induced by psilocybin ingestion. Users have been known to act violently towards themselves or others after using psilocybin.
Our topic for the criminal newsletter this month is Psilocybin/Mushrooms. Toxicology is a key component of many criminal cases, and mushrooms are certainly not absent from the list of drugs that come up in discovery. The subtopics for this month are:- Overview (5/9/14)
- Ingestion (5/16/14)
- “Bad Trip” (5/23/14)
- Detection (5/30/14)
