Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Magic Mushrooms The dozen of species of psilocybin or “Magic Mushrooms” belonging to the genus’s: psilocybe, panaeolus, and copelandia. The effects of their ingestion resemble a shorter LSD trip, producing significant physical, visual, and perceptual changes. Practically all of the psilocybin containing mushrooms are small, brown or tan mushrooms easily mistakable for any number of non-psychoactive, inedible, or poisonous mushrooms in the wild. This makes them difficult, and potentially hazardous, to identify. The primary distinguishable feature of most psilocybin containing mushrooms is that they bruise blue when handled. Although psilocybin is the main psychoactive ingredient found in the fungus, a smaller but more potent compound, called psilocin, also packs a good part of mushrooms' psychedelic punch. Psilocybin and psilocin are noteworthy in that their molecular structures are very similar to chemicals present in the human brain. Research shows that psilocybin is converted in the body to psilocin before triggering its mind-altering effects. Psilocin differs from the human neurotransmitter serotonin by only one hydroxy molecule. Their shape is so similar that they are able to fool and infiltrate parts of the brain w