Magic mushrooms or shrooms are a name for a variety of narcotics that contain psilocybin, which is a psychedelic and hallucinogenic compound. Shrooms are illegal to possess or sell. While studies have shown that psilocybin can be used as a therapy designation for depression treatment, it is still classified as a Schedule I drug. It is still yet to be accepted and approved for medical use as the potential for misuse still remains great. Let’s go over how long shrooms can stay in your system and how long they last.
How Long do Shrooms Stay in Your System?
Shrooms can stay in your system for up to 15 hours. The half-life of psilocybin in the body is roughly 50 minutes for the average person. This is, essentially, how long it takes for half the drug to be excreted from the body through various means. This means that the amount of this substance in your body will be halved every 50 minutes until it is fully eliminated.
This, of course, depends on your tolerance and metabolism. The more of the drug you’ve consumed throughout your life, the likelier that you have a resistance to it. You might find that you’ve slowly developed a need to consume more and more of it over time. While psilocybin is generally considered a non-addictive substance, it is still fully possible to create a behavioral dependence on its effects.
Drug Testing
As an illegal substance, psilocybin is still tested for in various forms of drug screening. Not all tests screen for psilocybin, so we are going to describe these tests in depth so you can understand which ones do and which ones don’t.
- The Urine Test
The standard tests administered by most drug testing companies generally do not include screening for psilocybin, but some companies do offer tests for the substance and metabolites (such as psilocin). An employer would have to pay additional fees to have these tests conducted en masse. Small traces of the drug are detectable by these tests within 24 hours of the ingestion.
- Blood tests
These are somewhat uncommon, but it may happen under certain conditions. For example, a probation officer might have your blood tested for the substance. The detection window is brief, however, requiring that the test be administered within hours of use.
- Hair
Hair is one of the most effective ways to test for drug consumption. Traces of psilocybin and its other metabolites can be found in hair follicles for up to 90 days, but they do require larger hair samples in order to find detectable amounts of the substance.
How Long do Shrooms Last?
The effects of shrooms typically last between 4 to 6 hours, though it is not unheard of for people to suffer the effects for a longer duration. In many cases, some lingering effects may be felt the next day. Some people report that they feel a euphoric glow the day after a shroom trip.
One of the reasons people choose to take or consume magic mushrooms is that they are neither addictive nor have any long term effects. While there is some truth to this, there is still plenty that needs to be discovered about magic mushroom consumption in the field of research.
What Are the Effects?
Magic mushrooms are associated with spiritual experiences and self-discovery. Users often believe that the hallucinations grant them elevated levels of thought. In reality, this is the psilocybin at work, which also induces euphoria in the user. The hallucinogenic effects also cause people to hear, see, and feel sensations that are not real.
How Long do Shrooms Take to Kick In?
On average, magic mushrooms take about 20 minutes to take effect. This depends on your metabolism and the quality of the product you’re imbibing. For example, fresh mushrooms may take longer to be absorbed by the system, while dried mushrooms are known to be much more potent.
The Severity of a Bad Trip
As we have mentioned before, there are a number of environmental factors that can affect the severity and intensity of the experience. Some of these are:
- The amount consumed
- The species or variety of mushroom
- How they are consumed
- Whether they are dried or fresh
- Your age
- Your body mass and tolerance
- Your metabolism
- Your expectations
- Your frame of mind
- Your pre-existing health conditions
- Other substances in your body
Despite all this, however, most people return to normal in as little as 24 hours. If any lingering effects remain beyond this, it is advisable to seek medical help.
Negative Effects
Some of the negative physical effects of magic mushroom consumption include:
- Nausea
- Excessive yawning
- Muscle weakness
- Headaches
- Drowsiness
- Dilated pupils
- Physical discomfort
- Heaviness
- Increased heart rate, blood pressure, and high body temperatures
Some of the mental effects, which are normally associated with a bad trip, are:
- Anxiety
- Panic
- Paranoia
- Euphoria
- Visual and auditory hallucinations
- Psychosis
- Distorted sense of time, place, and reality
Extreme anxiety, seizures, mental confusion, agitation, psychotic episodes are just some of the symptoms of overconsumption. This includes losing a sense of reality, seeing bizarre and frightening images, and severe paranoia. Luckily, this is generally the hard limit of effects.
Long-term and excessive consumption also has been reported to have quite a number of negative effects. An example is the increased risk of negative reactions and bad trips in female users. Used alongside other narcotic substances, it may be associated with long-term negative outcomes.
While more and more studies are being conducted to reveal how shrooms can be taken safely and in controlled amounts to help with mental health issues, there are still plenty of strides to be made before this can happen. As of now, there are no approved medications yet that contain psilocybin.
Dangers of Mushroom Poisoning
We’ve mentioned before that there is a low risk of addiction in the consumption of magic mushrooms. It is the same with overdosing. Unless you consume impossibly large amounts of the substance, fatal effects and serious conditions are highly unlikely. However, there still lies the danger of mushroom poisoning.
Mushroom poisoning happens when the wrong species of mushroom is harvested and ingested. It is easy enough for an inexperienced harvester to pick the wrong mushrooms; after all, plenty of different species share the same appearance, and it takes an expert eye to identify what is poisonous and what is not.
Consumption of such poisonous mushrooms definitely calls for medical help, as they can result in catastrophic liver damage and even death in some cases. If you are looking for alternative ways to treat your depression or other mental health issues, make sure to obtain them from a trusted source.
It is even better to avoid buying and consuming them entirely, as their growth and distribution are not legal, let alone regulated. Not only are you at risk for major health concerns and mushroom poisoning, but you would also be at risk for arrest for criminal possession. This might have long-term negative implications for your life that you might not expect.
Conclusion
While you would be at minimal risk for addiction or overdose with magic mushroom use, it is still dangerous in a number of ways. The risks you take include possible mushroom poisoning, arrest, or even loss of employment if a drug test at your place of work screens for it. While some evidence has shown that it can help with mental health conditions like depression, there is still plenty of research that needs to be conducted before it becomes a viable treatment.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7034876/
