Usually taken orally, psilocybin is found in dried or fresh mushrooms or as a powder in capsules. It is sometimes brewed into a tea. Typical doses range from 4 to 10 milligrams, but are hard to control because the active amount of hallucinogens in mushrooms differ widely according to the genus, strength, and condition (fresh or dried) of the mushrooms. Another common way that people can experience psilocybin is in spiritual gatherings where mushrooms are treated as a religious sacrament. The Sacred Tribe in Denver, Colorado, and Zide Door in East Oakland, California, both integrate magic mushrooms into their spiritual teachings and practices. In some ways, psilocybin is a remarkably safe drug — there is no known lethal dose (something that can’t be said for many medicines sold without a prescription) and it is nonaddictive. But there are risks, both practical and psychological, and these can be serious. Someone on a high dose of psilocybin is apt to have badly impaired judgment and, unsupervised, can do something reckless. Without proper attention to setting and preparation, people can have absolutely terrifying experiences, sometimes with lasting effects a recent survey of people who reported having a “bad trip” found that nearly 8 percent of them had sought psychiatric help afterward. additional reading.

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Some of the most well-known psychedelics are classified as hallucinogens, including magic mushrooms, mescaline, and LSD. In some ways, psilocybin is a remarkably safe drug — there is no known lethal dose (something that can’t be said for many medicines sold without a prescription) and it is nonaddictive. These experienced fungi finders — Alden Dirks, Nora Duncritts, Hawthorn McCracken and Andrew Turner — noted that in many cases it's hard to identify mushrooms from photographs and can even be difficult in person. The most commonly used species of psilocybin mushrooms include Psilocybe cubensis, Psilocybe semilanceata (Liberty Caps), Psilocybe azurescens (Flying Saucer mushrooms), Psilocybe cyanescens (Wavy Cap mushrooms), Psilocybe subaeruginosa (P.subs), and Panaeolus cyanescens (Blue Meanie mushrooms).

ACS Chem Neurosci. That’s likely linked, in part, to an expanding interest in eating mushroom varieties beyond the kind found in grocery stores: For decades, the only mushrooms the average consumer in the United States had access to were button, portobello or cremini varieties..