The British Government has increased the penalties for possessing magic mushrooms. Minimus is annoyed to the maximus...
Last Monday, the 18th of July, Magic Mushrooms, whether fresh, dry or prepared, were made a Class A Drug. Previously you had been able to buy and consume them fresh, legally, from over 400 stores in the country. They also grow wild during the autumn in our countryside and can be easily found if you know where to look. They were available legally before due to a loophole in the law that only deemed them illegal if they were prepared and dried.…
Article comments
26 - Shroomy Jim
shrooms were a way of life before the bloody government found another way of stopping us having fun.. since july last year ive been taking the acid again for the buzz.. had some shrooms but not as many obviously. before i was growing em and the kits and shrooms were easily available.. its a right ballache getting hold of acid.. and through all of this alchohol and tobbacco is still legal.. they should look at death rates next time theyre classing drugs
27 - Raven
I think its an excellent way for the government to keep us from becoming aware. I mean do you really think the government cares if we get high or not. I think its what we start thinking when we do drugs and how it broadens our awareness that the Government doesn't like. Drugs I believe open up doors that are usually closed because we are not taught to think outside the box. I don't think the Government likes that too much. They keep us in fear and confusion so they can keep control of us. Look at the terrorism that they propagate, it's huge. LOL. I sound like one of those paranoid conspiracy theorists. But I find it very angering how the government restricts us with law after law after law. And until all of us as one stand up and say NO.. we've had enough its just going to continue with law after law after law that keeps on restricting us. So we might as well just sit back and enjoy the ride and wait for the day to come when we all get sick of it and stand up as one. And who knows when that will happen. Anyway I've spouted my babble and my point of view. Thanks for reading. Peace
28 - Chris
The Great United Kingdom is the mother of enslavement of it's people. I agree with the previous post, anything they can do to SHUT down your mind and narrow your perspective in life only helps to maintain control of the masses. Since becomming interested in psilocybin I have spoken to MANY people who've take this substance. Not once have I come across a negative story of its effects. And yes, I know there are always the rare exception and that you have to be careful because some fungie are poisonous but the same could be said for drinking water! Only the other day there was a woman in the UK who died because she drank too much water in some stupid talkshow radio "water drinking" competition. If you drink water from rusty pipes you're likely to get ill too. If you breath the wrong air in someplaces (due to high pollution levels) you can become sick. Are these bastards going to ban water and air too? And what about alcohol? Are they planning on banning that too? Alcohol has kills and ruins the lives of far more people each year than psilocybin ever has. No, of course they wont, (because by all accounts) alchol doesn't have the same positive mind expanding effcts as psilocybin. Alcohol just makes you aggressive, dumb and narrowminded - exactly the way the British government wants their population. If we all began experimenting with psilocybin we might focus more on reality and how our government is trying to screw us over, instead of the latest goings-on in EastEnders or what Briteny Spears got up to over the weekend. You can't keep us locked up forever!
29 - Chris
by the way, forgot to mention...if you want to know why they're really so scared of you trying "magic mushrooms" search for a couple of videos on Google Video by a guy called Terence McKenna, a staunch psilocybin advocate. A highly intelligent man, with a hightened sense of awareness. Not really surprising that our government might not want a nation of people like him to contend with.
30 - Zhivago
We should not only band together and protest, but also collectively rally up a team of quality lawyers to fight this outlandish, ilogical change in law-- and while we're at it the countless other ridiculous dogmatic regulations the clueless government materialises!
31 - furthurbus
lets start the revolt, even if we get arrested, we'll do it together for our cause. to be honest i feel like gettin arrested for pickin in the feilds so i can publicly bump up awareness of the lack of common sense in our society today... just like the cannabis granny that went on this morning.(u can watch this on youtube.)
32 - deadstuartwakes
instead of talking to each other, best people to speak to were the politicians too late though
33 - Shiv4life
Sorry just stumbled upon this much later than the last post date...
treb0r, you say: "entheogenic substances including LSD".
By all means correct me if i am wrong, but i am sure LSD is not an entheogenic substance. LSD is an acid, chemically made. Entheogens are 'organic' substances. They are considered more of a herbal nature.
People here are saying that it is wrong to assume that magic mushrooms being sold legally means consumers will stay away from less safe LSD blotters. I think that it is a correct assumption though. Chances of underground LSD being chemically contaminated are much higher than dirty mushrooms being sold at a store. The store would sell safe, clean and fresh mushrooms for fear of being sued.
Yet LSD blotters come from the underground, dodgy chemists and dealers and that sort of stuff, surely the chances that LSD coming from that can be more 'dirty'.
Anyway thats just my 2 cents on the assumption of the relationship between legal mushrooms and LSD.
As for the complete crimilization of magic mushrooms to Class A, whether fresh, dried or prepared, I personally blame it all on USAs very harsh policies towards drugs and its complete bullshit 'War on Drugs'.
Of course Blair is going to do something to impress USA, so why not show that it will not tolerate drugs at all, and have the nerve to put mushrooms on the same league as heroine and crack?
Did you know that a couple of years ago, Mexico put forward new legislation that up to 5 grams of cannabis could be used recreationally with no penalty. Guess which country called for that legislation to be revoked? The bloody americans, with their influence over the mexican government, managed to persuade them to repeal that law.
Honestly, legal mushrooms on the streets was the best thing. Shops were good at self-regulation, not selling to minors and giving proper advice etc... thats what it should be like. Good drug education, and more of a liberal policy towards drugs such as mushrooms.
Thanks
34 - jcindahouz
Man, as soon as I started reading, I was shocked to find that mushrooms were legal at all, anywhere. People are always mistaking poisonous mushrooms with the "magic" ones or ingesting too much of the "magic" kind, and those are good reasons to stop people from having a right to use it. If this were a more responsible race of people, like the Indians (before Columbus), who did everything with thier seventh generation theory, maybe we could handle the privelage of using mind altering drugs. But in this day of abuse, crime, and selfishness, someone needs to put their foot down.
35 - Douglas Mays
Uh, let's get it straight people!!!! I am kinda getting the hint tht there seems to be this general concept of LSD or Mushrooms falling into this 'more dangerous drug' category. Being compared to crack, etc.
et me say that as a psychotropic drug that messes with your brain heavily, crack cocaine is 10 to the third power more powerful than LSD. Yes, that is an official number taught in med schools from nuerosciences to emergency room residents.
Then there is the physiological effects of cocaine also. Very desructive to tissue and nerves. Not so much problem wi/ hallucinogens.
That is 1000 times more powerful. I have been around. I agree with that assessment. Pure LSD and Mushrooms can be an amazing drug if used proper. Crack cocaine, there is no proper use for that drug. There are many excuses. Cocaine in rock form. Really messes with the brain.
"LSD, melts in your mind, not in your mouth!" Sorry, I just remember that one from the 60s. Here in the northwest, I remember in the 70s when neighborhood construction (new housing) was out of control. Landscape companies would roll up fields of sod from the Oregon hills. Come lay them in new yards in Redmond, WA (or any other lovely suburb of Seattle). Usually, some form of magic mushroom would be included in the new front yard in the suburbs. Blue Bands. We pick, eat. go see a concert. Well, that was the 70s.
Anyway, good for the Brit's!!! Intoxicating drugs come in all forms, effects, strength. I feel crack and meth AND alcohol are the WORST for mind, body, soul and social environment. I can back up that statement with hardcore fact. LSD/Shrooms? Could actually be a good thing.
Cocaine in other forms, not as bad except for the economic effects. Taking cash out of the USA and handing it over to Columbian drug lords. Not good. Cocaine in the form of crack has a psychological effect like no other. Cooking in impurities added to the product and smoking it is not good. intensifies the effect. Dangerous!
Actually put them (LSD/Shrooms) way down on the list. Bad acid? Bad. Good acid? good... Probably a positive social impact. Legalize the herb first....
coffee rules!
DM
36 - Mel Davis
I am not sure how mushrooms are in the same league as LSD and Crack Cocaine! Ridiculous
37 - D
We can have ALL the medical data in the world, stating how safe psychedelics are and it wouldn't make a bit of difference so everyone quit wasting your time and realize that it's not really about that. It's about psychedelics challenging the assumptions of ANY cultural and political system and that makes them dangerous to EVERY cultural and political system. What psychedelics do is they address a deeper level of human neurological organization; they reveal the brain and it's function, unconfined by cultural norms and expectations and this terrifying to whoever that's in power. People have a right to think and explore their own minds. This is as intimate a part of their being as their sexuality and any culture which mitigates that is clearly afraid of a full, fair and open dialogue about what reality is and what real human values ought to be. The tension between so called straight culture and psychedelic culture is tension over values so if there is anything a Marxist dictatorship, a high tech industrial democracy or a theocracy, they can all get together on one thing, which is psychedelic drugs are a knife poised at the heart of community values. This is just simply nonsense and then all the reasons brought forth are in a sense, a red herring and don't hold any water.
38 - David
Theres no such thing as a marxist dictatorship. A bureacracy of any kind goes against everything Marx said. Marx wanted an Oligarchy, spokesmen of all industries.. SPOKESMEN, not dictators, not prime ministers, not presidents. A democracy of majoritism where specific laws could be voted for, so things like this wouldn't even happen. Im over 18 and i can make my own adult choices and regulate myself, but many people cannot and the government has to speak to those people.
Although i want them myself as i enjoyed them, i do know it can be for the good sometimes. Too much of anything is bad for you. Eat too many carrots, turn red. Eat too much chocolate, get fat. Laws of nature and of physics. And most importantly common sense.
"If you sit on a tack, you bleed from the ass." Doug Stanhope on freedom
39 - flynn
I am deeply saddened that this law has been passed and I am aware that even now many people in the uk still do not know the seriousness of the situation as they may continue to pick. It is abhorant that something so natural can possibly be made illegal. Nature never intended us to abuse them, hence why they only appear in a small window of the cycle of our seasons. They are not easy pickings and those foragers are rewarded for their dedication.
We have psylocibin receptors in our brains which we have carried with us for a thousand generations. It is a plant which we have evolved due to the consumption of and to which we owe so much. I could talk for hours but I must go as I have not escaped the system as yet and must fuel in. Consiousness expansion is essential or we are going to burn out completely. Peace and love always x
40 - Keith
I agree with the post that make the point that these mushrooms make you aware of the big Government dick that's being shoved up your ass everyday. Government does not want this. They want obedient workers who slave all day. Give them a little booze so they forget their slaves for a while.
41 - dantr.o
government posishional political shrade's. carnt live with them, carnt live with them.
42 - mike london
The government knows we hate them for their restrictions and theres plenty of us out there keeping our own minds.
No worries.
43 - kai;
labour are full of shit. always have been, always will be.
I am not prepared to stop taking shrooms cause gordon brown/tony blair says so. my body, my choice. he doesnt even know i exsist. hah
44 - tim s
When the government allow ppl to have 40 billion I suppose these are nesasarry precautions to keep the minion workfoce in check
45 - fresh oatcake stokecake
this is not a war on drugs,.....this is a spiritual war,.....most humans dont know they have a soul,......do not comply with any law as long as you dont harm anyone in your life,.....live free,......tony the terrorist blair has no hold over anyone,...be free from those reptilian so called leaders.
46 - STM
Hector Gonzalez writes: "if you make shrooms illegal I might as well go back to crack, heroin, and acid."
Hector, I feel for you, I really do. That is some choice.
But I also have a novel solution to your problem.
How about you don't take anything. Call me old-fashioned, but I feel it's possible.
Possibly, even Nancy Reagan was right: Just say no, even if any imaginary friends are getting in your ear.
Then after you've saved up enough money, perhaps through having a nice job, instead
of having to get into the coke, you could buy a nice car - or even a house!
Don't spend too much time in the closet though with all those dried shrooms. Strange things can happen in closets, especially when you're hallucinating.
47 - zingzing
when's the last time anyone even saw any acid?
shrooms definitely aren't addictive. who could take that shit? i'm glad to have done those that i have. i see no need to hallucinate any more.
but crack. mmmm. that's a goddamn high, right there. mM! heroin's nice, but it's no crack. goddamn, i love me some crack.
i am telling the truth.
48 - STM
"i am telling the truth"
That's what I feared ...
49 - zingzing
you ever had any? can't deny it. good thing it doesn't come around too often.
i've been addicted to two drugs in my life. coke and e. getting off e was a hell of a journey. a month of insomnia and stomach pains that sent me to the hospital three times in a foreign country. coke was relatively easy. i just slept a lot. but relationships were ruined. i had a good girlfriend at that time to help me through that one, but in the end, both the drug and she left.
i don't recommend getting hooked on any drug. that doesn't take much brainpower.
but i do love it. i wish it had no consequences. if i could take it all back, maybe i'd not do what i've done. but i done did what i done, and god damn if it wasn't a good time before it wasn't.
that said, never been addicted to crack. so i have nothing but good memories of it.
50 - Stu
Authoritarians need to get tough on anything that threatens total subservience to their regime. They need to close our minds so that we are more readily exploited and parasitized
by the rich.
51 - The Mushroom man
Mushrooms can make the user feel awful and sooner or later they will have a bad trip. This can cause serious problems! What we need is information.
52 - Cabeca
The Shamanistic traditions would ever be weighed with due process culturally, legally, and academically ? Shamanistic traditions are suspect as foreign oddities to begin with, but the added fact that they make regular use of psychedelic drugs makes them especially anathema. But then, shamans do not use the word "drug" nor are they encapsulated in a lifestyle of Western stigmas. They do not use "drugs" at all in our sense. In fact, the closet rendering in English to what they are using is "entheogen" which roughly translated means "creating the god within" and they have been doing it for thousands of years without destro-ying society, without Western values, and with some remarkably positive social results. Irony would have it that eventually Western society would reconsider its positions on ancient traditions beyond which we have thought ourselves to have " evolved." Furthermore, that irony is carried into the realm of drugs precisely because these lesser " backward " societies have appeared to have found positive uses for psychedelics which our "advanced" society has not and which must serve as a bitter reminder of our failure to do what we do best: profit from nature. The purpose of this report, is to high light changing American trends in the realm of psychedelics. Shamanistic redemption as a form of entheogenic intervention ,also take a look at ayahuasca glimpse 2012 from Goithyja, a great piece of practical knowledge in this subject, helping people to partake with entheogenic substances in a more spiritual way...!