Psilocybin
Pronunciation:seye-loh-SEYE-bin (also pronounced seye-loh-SIB-in)
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number:520-52-5
Formal Names:Psilocibin
Informal Names:Blue Caps, Boomer, Buttons, God’s Flesh, Hombrecitos, Las Mu-
jercitas, Liberty Caps, Little Smoke, Magic Mushroom, Mexican Mushrooms,
Mushies, Mushrooms, Mushroom Soup, Mushroom Tea, Musk, Pizza Toppings,
Rooms, Sacred Mushroom, Shrooms, Silly Putty, Simple Simon, Teonanacatl
Type:Hallucinogen.Seepage 25
Federal Schedule Listing:Schedule I (DEA no. 7437)
USA Availability:Illegal to possess
Pregnancy Category:None
Uses.When people speak of hallucinogenic mushrooms they typically refer
to various species containing psilocybin, a drug that can also be manufactured
in a laboratory and that has some chemical resemblance toDMT. Likepeyote
cactus, mushrooms of thePsilocybevariety have been part of Native American
spiritual experiences for perhaps thousands of years. In the 1500s Spaniards
observed use by Aztecs. Such mushrooms grow in North America and else-
where in the world as well.
For some persons a psilocybin session is a spiritual encounter. Euphoria,
self-examination, and meditation about the meaning of life can occur after
taking the drug. Along with vivid hallucinations, changes might occur in per-
ception of time and space, and people may feel detached from their bodies or
imagine that their bodies are changing shape. As with many other drugs of
abuse, scientists find that a user’s personality can make a huge difference in
what happens with psilocybin; some persons can prevent any hallucinogenic
effects at all. Personality may influence physical actions of the drug as well;
in one experiment volunteers with less-stable personalities needed less light
than usual in order to view reproductions of artwork; volunteers who were
more normal needed more light than usual. An experiment found the drug’s
psychic effects to be stronger on schizophrenics. Experiences can be so ex-
traordinary that some investigators have wondered if the drug can evoke ESP
(extrasensory perception) abilities.
One of the most famous scientific studies with psilocybin was conducted
by Dr. Timothy Leary before he became a counterculture icon. Leary and his