If you want to consume cannabis in a state where it is legal, you can check the packaging to find out the THC and CBD content, dominant terpene profiles, information on a strain’s lineage, and other titbits that help inform the consumer about how the experience will feel. This information ultimately helps people avoid products and flower varietals that might make them anxious or lead to an otherwise challenging high.
Considering tripping on mushrooms? Even the most legitimate underground sellers only tend to provide basic notes about each variety – often, with no potency data or dosage guidance. But a new certification scheme for producers and brands working with psilocybin mushrooms is seeking to change the product landscape to help people avoid unexpectedly strong trips and sketchy psychedelic-infused chocolate bars that might land you in the hospital. Much of what led to the commercialization of cannabis and the structure of the industry was advancements in testing and information-sharing.
READ: New Michigan Bill Will Legalize Psilocybin Mushrooms for PTSD Patients If Passed
“Most people are pushing out products that just say it’s 100, or 250, milligrams of dried ground cubensis,” says Joe R, the founder of non-profit PsiloSafe, which has teamed up with testing biotech company Tryptonomics. Products are regularly inconsistent, he adds, and often do not include raw mushrooms. Instead, they contain a synthetic psychedelic, such as 4-ACO-DMT. “We need some type of governance because it’s so wild west. It’s deceptive.”
Last summer, almost 160 people reportedly became sick after eating shady psychedelic-infused chocolate bars that left dozens in hospital and potentially two dead. Other mushroom bars are sold with potentially dangerous amounts of muscimol, the psychoactive component within Amanita muscaria mushrooms. Although, it’s likely those products contain another psychoactive product altogether. In November, 95,000 mislabelled “mushroom magic blend” bars were seized by law enforcement in San Diego, CA, and found to not contain any actual mushrooms but two other more obscure psychedelic tryptamines.
There’s a growing concern that without community action, we could see even graver consequences — much like the contaminated cannabis vapes that contained Vitamin E, which led to serious lung injuries.
“We want to launch this underground, gray market in a way that is ethically, morally proper and has some risk mitigation initiatives to make sure that a black swan event doesn’t pop up and set us back another 20 years,” says Joe. He prefers not to use his full surname due to the illegality of the work. “We are doing what we are doing to protect the mental wellness movement from brands that are lacing their products with random substances and calling it ‘mushrooms’.”
Some 15 brands, including Counter Culture, Empathacary, Stem Social, and BrainSpa, are already working with PsiloSafe. “We’re doing our best to provide safe, quality, consistent medicine to the people that need it the most,” adds Joe.
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Each product comes with a QR code on the packaging, linking to detailed data sheets that break down the levels of psilocybin, psilocin, and other alkaloids. The sheets also feature graphics advising consumers on the potency of each serving — micro, medium, high, or macro. It provides further information on what sort of experience a person is likely to have and the trajectory of the journey.
“We really cannot market potency based on dry weight anymore,” says Joe, with mushrooms becoming increasingly potent and dosing calculators being quickly circulated through the mushroom community to help educate people.
“PsiloSafe is collaborating with Tryptomics to develop a standard for reporting potency of infused products focused on the [milligram] strength of actives,” says Ian Bollinger, from Tryptonomics. “This highlights the importance of providing on-package information to inform the consumer to manage expectations for effects to mitigate risk.”
