Won't be long before they come for us . . .
Here's a curious post I chanced upon on the mushroom (magic mushroom) newsgroup . . .
Seems that posessing magic mushroom spores (used for growing your own at home) is legal in most states, but it looks like the DEA is going after vendors (and maybe buyers) of these things even where it's legal, saying they're attempting to manufacture a controlled substance. They arrested a major supplier of mushroom spores (Psylocibe Fanaticus) a few months ago because on his website he was selling both the spores and the supplies to grow them with, said he was part of the manufacturing process (or some such). I e-mailed someone who was doing the same with conversion kits and Finaplix-H, figured sooner or later the DEA will be applying the same logic to goodly folks like him. And us. :(
Anyway, I thought I'd post this as an early warning . . . dunno what to do about it though . . . 'cept maybe vote for politicians who favor an end to the war on drugs . . . and anyone who'll replace :devil: John :devil: Ashcroft :devil: . . .
--Tock
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I found the following in a DEA newsletter:
MAIL-ORDER PSILOCYBIN MUSHROOM SPORES IN GREAT FALLS, MONTANA
The DEA Western Laboratory (San Francisco, California) recently
received a submission of three standard design, plastic, 12
milliliter syringes containing a clear liquid with very small
black specks suspended in the solution, suspected to be aqueous
suspensions of psilocybin mushroom spores. The exhibits were
seized by the Postal Inspector in Great Falls, Montana. Each
syringe had a piece of colored tape wrapped around it; one
red, one white, and one blue. Each tape had a different
alphanumeric code written on it, the meaning of which was not
intuitively obvious. For prosecution purposes (attempt to
manufacture psilocybin and/or psilocin, controlled substances),
it was necessary to show both that the spores were viable
(would grow mushrooms), and that the mushrooms grown from the
spores contained psilocybin and/or psilocin.
Visual examination of a drop of the liquid at 750x magnification
revealed thousands of brownish colored, semi-transparent, oval
shaped spores. Each solution was used to innoculate four
different growth media: Potato, dextrose, yeast agar (PDY),
dog food agar (DFA), malt extract agar (MEA), and brown rice
powder and vermiculite. The basic procedures followed those
provided in: Gross ST. Detecting psychoactive drugs in the
developmental stages of mushrooms. Journal of Forensic Sciences
2000;45(3):527. [Further details not provided in accordance
with Bulletin policy.] Mycelium growth was obtained with two
of the syringes; analysis of samples of the mycelium by GC/MS
and GC/IRD confirmed psilocin (see: Casale JF. An aqueous-organic
extraction method for the isolation and identification of
psilocin from hallucinogenic mushrooms. Journal of Forensic
Sciences 1985;30(1):247). Transfer of the mycelium to a grow
chamber resulted in mushroom growth (see Photo 5), and analysis
of the dried mushrooms confirmed psilocin. This was the first
submission of this type to the Western Laboratory.
A few things to note. First, the spores were mailed to Montana,
where spores are not illegal. Secondly, note the following was
said:
"For prosecution purposes (attempt to manufacture psilocybin
and/or psilocin, controlled substances), it was necessary to
show both that the spores were viable (would grow mushrooms),
and that the mushrooms grown from the spores contained psilocybin
and/or psilocin."
In other words, they have every intent on prosecuting the possession
of spores as an attempt to manufacture a controlled substance.
(Reference: http://www.dea.gov/programs/forensic...03/mg0703.html)
We live is scary times.
