# SHROOMS!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 3, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197 "2001-10-03T15:36:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![satanslawyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@satanslawyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satanslawyer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/1 "2001-10-03T15:36:39Z")
My co-workers and I were checking out these home mushroom growing kits online. And I do mean the hallucinogenic kind. Supposedly it’s legal to buy and own the spores. How is this? Would every one that orders these get put on some kind of DEA database? Basically, if we order one of these to bring back the college days are we gonna get busted? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/2 "2001-10-03T16:19:04Z")
I must be psychic; I know **exactly** what’s about to happen to this thread. ---
**Author:** ![satanslawyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@satanslawyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satanslawyer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/3 "2001-10-03T16:20:06Z")
Crap, I knew this would happen! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/4 "2001-10-03T16:26:27Z")
Besides, you mustn’t talk about this on the board; it makes the Koalas **very** angry\* [sym]O{[sup]\>[/sup]·[sup]\<[/sup]}O[/sym] [sym]O{[sup]\>[/sup]·[sup]\<[/sup]}O[/sym] \*[sup]And you wouldn’t like them when they’re angry.[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![satanslawyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@satanslawyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satanslawyer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/5 "2001-10-03T16:29:22Z")
WELL STUPID ME! I thought THE STRAIGHT DOPE was all about finding answers to the questions that torment us all. Hmmmmm, I guess it’s also about censorship. ---
**Author:** ![Mirage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mirage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirage)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/6 "2001-10-03T16:29:28Z")
The mushrooms aren’t illegal, the psilocybin they contain is. The spores don’t contain any of it, so it’s legal to buy and possess them. If you happen to let them grow hwever, you are now in posession of a DEA scheduled substance. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/7 "2001-10-03T16:31:56Z")
I think this falls into the guidelines of General Questions. He’s not asking _how_ to gro illegal mushrooms, not how to get them. He’s not asking for advice about how to break the law. The question as I read it is: “If I buy the mushroom kit, will I appear as a potential offender in a government database?” Sounds like a legitimate question to me. ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/8 "2001-10-03T16:32:48Z")
If you want to avoid any of the DEA blacklisting you can go to the head shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market and they sell entire kits(aquarium tank, spores, dirt/mulch, etc.) for around $45. Basically you Spray the tank with Lysol, pour in the dirt, mix in the spores and, VOILA! Five weeks later you are in business. If I were you I would look up the store on the internet(I forget the name) then have them send them directly to you. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/9 "2001-10-03T16:36:30Z")
It may be on the borderline of being a legitimate _question_, but it’s sure to get locked, because the answers are going to be ‘how to’. ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/10 "2001-10-03T16:39:45Z")
**Johnny L.A.** , Who cares if he was asking how to grow them? It’s not like he doesn’t know the potential consequences of his actions. If he gets busted, so be it. I doubt the SDMB would ever become a bastion of teives and smugglers, or would it? I apologize for the explicit nature of my post. I understand that discussing illegal mushroom cultivation does not maintain the savory ideals of the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/11 "2001-10-03T16:51:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Who cares if he was asking how to grow them? It’s not like he doesn’t know the potential consequences of his actions. Aha! But he _doesn’t_ know if by buying a kit, his name does into a DEA database. That’s why he’s asking. Now, I would not engage in illegal activities myself; but I _am_ curious if the U.S. government keeps track of such things. (If they don’t now, I’ll bet the will soon so that they can combat terrorism.) ---
**Author:** ![satanslawyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@satanslawyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satanslawyer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/12 "2001-10-03T17:04:19Z")
I don’t think there would be a whole lot of terrorist ordering shrooms off the web. But Johnny LA has it right. What are the chances that ordering from this place would put one into some kind DEA database? Would they wait the five weeks for them to grow and bust down your door? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/13 "2001-10-03T17:13:50Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t think there would be a whole lot of terrorist ordering shrooms off the web. Sorry, I should have been more specific. Terrorists might be tracked down if they buy… I dunno. Whatever terrorists buy. _The Anarchist’s Cookbook_? _The Poor Man’s James Bond_? Large orders of nitrated fertilizer? I doubt they’d buy mushrooms. What I was getting at was whether the government would keep closer track of purchases that could lead them to terrorists, drug abusers, or other people who may be a danger. > [@](#): > > But Johnny LA has it right. What are the chances that ordering from this place would put one into some kind DEA database? Would they wait the five weeks for them to grow and bust down your door? Good question. I hadn’t thought about waiting for the spores to grow before the men in the ninja costumes break down your door. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/14 "2001-10-03T18:05:43Z")
Well, the whole setup could be a DEA plot. Of course, i could be a DEA agent, and right now 16 federal agents could be on their way to **satanslawyer** ’s house, to set up bugging equipment. i would advise against ordering anything that could be potentially illegal via the internet, which could leave an electronic paper trail if the business is ever visited by trenchcoaters. but i’m a conspiracy nut so i may be biased… ---
**Author:** ![moe.ron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed8c4c/32.png) [@moe.ron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moe.ron)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/15 "2001-10-03T18:29:16Z")
The question is, would it be legal for the gov’t to keep tabs on you for buying something that could be potentially illegal? I don’t think so, but I’m not sure in cases like this. I’d like to make a reference to guns, alcohol, and potentially fatal pills (i.e. oxycontin), but at a quick glance, I somehow think there’s faulty logic in there somewhere. From personal experience, I have a friend who bought the spores, and afro-engineered his own rig. He did it as a one time thing and nothing ever came of it. I also live in a place where the police have a very strong presence, and even in a locale that is very hot. IMHO, this is a safe one time thing, beyond that, I wouldn’t know. If you are planning some “Altered States” kind of experiment, you’d probably be safer to just collect some spores from your first batch. I know this just can’t be a good first impression. Oh, well ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrooms/85197/16 "2001-10-03T18:56:17Z")
I don’t like the way this thread is going. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*\*moe.ron \*\* > I have a friend who bought the spores, and afro-engineered his own rig. This language is racist and inappropriate. This thread is closed. **DrMatrix** - General Questions Moderator