July 18

July 18, 2005: "Magic Mushrooms" Loophole Closed

From the 18th July, 2005, it will be an offence to sell, possess or supply magic mushrooms in all forms – whether dried, packaged or fresh – as Section 21 of the Drugs Act 2005 comes into force. The Drugs Act 2005 received Royal Assent on 7 April 2005. Section 21 has amended the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 so that any fungi containing psilocin or an ester of psilocin – commonly known as magic mushrooms – are controlled drugs.

It is already an offence to import, export, supply or possess dried or packaged mushrooms. However, mushrooms vendors have used an apparent loophole in the law to import and sell fresh magic mushrooms. The Government has now clarified the law on psilocin, the Class A hallucinogen in mushrooms, so that it extends to fresh mushrooms as well as prepared mushrooms. The new offence also covers the sale and importation of kits.

The last two years has seen a sudden increase in the number of shops selling magic mushrooms from only a handful to over 400 in the UK. HM Revenue and Customs estimate that a significant proportion of the UK magic mushroom market is fed through imports from the Netherlands.

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