# Legalize Shrooms! **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 7, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalize-shrooms/833623 "2019-05-07T17:07:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalize-shrooms/833623/61 "2019-05-09T23:45:09Z")
I know but I’m going along with the hypothetical by making it as difficult as possible. I mean, they have beer kits too so with about the same expenditure of effort you could take a fun trip AND have tasty beer to wash the skanky shrooms down with. What a world! ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalize-shrooms/833623/62 "2019-05-10T00:23:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, yes, of course it’s easier to get away with black-market alcohol than black-market other drugs, and I’m baffled that this is even contentious. I can buy the raw materials to make alcohol at any market in the country, and it’ll go completely unnoticed, because everyone buys those raw materials, all the time. I could walk right up to a policeman and say “Pardon me, officer, where’s the nearest grocery store? I need to buy some potatoes”. But if I go around looking for the raw materials to produce psychedelic mushrooms, I’m likely to attract attention. Maybe there are ways to do it without attracting attention, and maybe there are even ways to do it that are legal, but it requires a level of care that isn’t even necessary for alcohol. That’s a more cogent version of the argument than I’d hear previously. I should have shown more humility and civility. Thanks for calling me on it VT. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalize-shrooms/833623/63 "2019-05-10T00:30:49Z")
Years ago, I was told about a local bookstore that sold a psilocybin growing kit; it was clearly marketed for educational purposes, but it was very easy to use. As noted by others, you just needed to put the spores into a container which you kept cool and dark. Wait about 3 weeks and you get mushrooms sprouting (now, the timing needs to be right; they were barely crowning one night, so I waited a couple of days and found myself with huge overgrown mushrooms - I’ve since been told that they are better plucked when they are much smaller). When you pick them, you are supposed to shake the spores into the spoil and get another round, but I failed at that, too. The 'shrooms ended up making me sick for about an hour before the “trip” kicked in, and I threw out the whole setup - a legal, uniform system of dosaging would have been much better. A friend I’ve known used to harvest mushrooms regularly using this method. The point is that mushrooms are very, very easy to grow and harvest, and it’s a simple thing to set it up without arousing suspicion. (Mods, please note that I am posting in Denver, Colorado, so I am not discussing criminal behavior. Also, all of this discussion is about past events, and I don’t intend to encourage actions wherever they may be prohibited) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalize-shrooms/833623/64 "2019-05-10T00:33:57Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > It looks like voters are saying “not right now”. > [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Denver Post said it passed. Narrowly (by 2000 votes) > [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > 50.56% to 49.44% [Denver decriminalizes 'magic mushrooms' in historic vote](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/08/denver-decriminalizes-magic-mushrooms-historic-vote/1147857001/) Holy crap! I never thought it would pass on the first vote! We truly live in interesting times! ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalize-shrooms/833623/65 "2019-05-14T08:03:13Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > In theory, I’m in favor, if only because I believe society will be better off – big-picture, long-term – when we stop trying to police the substances people want to put into their bodies. > > In practice, though – hmmm. Shrooms are not IME an easily-managed buzz like pot or alcohol. They’re an unpredictable ride and are definitely not for amateurs. Plus, doesn’t this reinforce the slippery slope argument people continue to make about legalizing weed? _See, told you they’d try to legalize harder stuff if you let them make pot legal …_ I think the argument is particularly strong for stuff that is not manufactured or “cooked”. Marijuana is a flower, psilocybin is a fungus. OTOH you are right: I have had awesome experiences on shrooms, but also terrifying ones. As Timothy Leary said, set and setting are paramount. And even then, some people are inherently primed to basically go psychotic when using them. So it might be better if novices were required to learn how to use psychedelics in a controlled environment. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalize-shrooms/833623/66 "2019-06-05T13:07:06Z")
[Oakland, CA has jumped on the bandwagon!](https://apnews.com/0179d69c527a4fa0a40b8c18e1e44f77) > [@](#): > > Oakland on Tuesday became the second U.S. city to decriminalize magic mushrooms after a string of speakers testified that psychedelics helped them overcome depression, drug addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder. > > The City Council voted unanimously to decriminalize the adult use and possession of magic mushrooms and other entheogenic, or psychoactive, plants and fungi. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalize-shrooms/833623.md?page=3)