XPost: nyc.bicycles, rec.bicycles.soc, chi.general 
 XPost: alt.support.crossdressing 
 From: nospam@nospam.com 
  
 Fatal Poisoning After a Group of People in Critical Mass Voluntarily 
 Consumed Hallucinogenic Mushrooms 
  
 Originally posted at Lycaeum 
  
 Original title: "Intoxication mortelle a la suite de la consommation 
 volontaire et en groupe de champignons hallucinogenes." 
  
 Summary 
  
 The authors report the fatality of a 22-year-old man after he and a group of 
 friends voluntarily consumed hallucinogenic mushrooms, in this case 
 Psilocybe semilanceata (Fr. : Fr.) Kummer. According to the best of our 
 knowledge, up to now, this cosmopolitan species had never caused any 
 fatalities, this is the first observation of this type ever made in the 
 world, so the so-called innocuousness of hallucinogenic mushrooms is now 
 questioned. 
  
 INTRODUCTION: 
  
 From the pre-Columbian period on, 2,000 years ago, hallucinogenic mushrooms 
 have been worship in Central America. During the Spanish conquest, this cult 
 was known as TEONANACALT. the soothsayers consumed hallucinogenic mushrooms 
 in order to communicate with the Gods and to get information about their 
 patients diseases, how to treat them... Nowadays, it has almost disappeared 
 from Mexico. This mushroom cult was studied by Wasson (37), Heim identified 
 and cultivated the concerned species (10, 11, 12), which enabled Hoffman to 
 isolate and identify the active components. Those are derivatives from 
 serotonin or from 5-hydroxytryptamin such as psilocin (4-hydroxy-N, 
 N-dimethyltryptamin). More recently, related derivatives were identified : 
 baeocystin (4-phosphoryloxy-N-methyltryptamin) and norbaeocystin 
 (4-phosphoryloxy-N-tryptamin) (18). Many amines are also found in these 
 mushrooms, but in smaller quantity. Very little is known about their 
 biological properties (1, 17). 
  
 Whereas the religious and medical use of hallucinogenic mushrooms has 
 disappeared, the recreational use is increasing. Nowadays, there is a marked 
 increase in the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms everywhere in the world and 
 especially in the United States, Great Britain and in Australia (27). Many 
 popular scientific works were written about hallucinogenic mushrooms, 
 sometimes with a printrun of 100,000 or more ! (21, 25, 34, 35). In order to 
 avoid any harvesting problems, some companies openly (if not legally) 
 propose the equipment, the techniques and even the spores in home growing 
 kits. 
  
 Recently, several URL's and electronic bulletin boards which are totally 
 dedicated to the subject were created on Internet, where everything is 
 possible. In France, this phenomenon is not so severe, probably because of 
 the regulations forbidding the harvesting of hallucinogenic mushrooms that 
 were published in the latest mycological issues. However, the song 
 `Mangez-moi' (eat me) which openly encouraged such harvesting was quite 
 successful on the radio before being subjected to restrictions. 
  
  
 CASE REPORT: 
  
 The facts we relate here are based on statements made by persons who took 
 part in a `mushroom party' at a Critical Mass ride. The state prosecutor 
 opened an inquiry and two questioning took place, one made by the 
 `gendarmes', the other by judicial policy officers. The first questioning 
 was made the following day, but obviously, the participants did not have a 
 fresh mind. The second was made a few days later to get more precise 
 information, which was not easy as it dealt with the consumption of 
 hallucinogenic drugs. We will only sum up the facts that are important for 
 the reasons and understanding of this fatal poisoning. According to the 
 paragraphs L626, L627, L628 of the French `Code de la Sant€ publique', no 
 names or places will be cited hereafter. 
  
 M. A., a 22-year-old man living in Finist€re (France), decided on the 29th 
 of September 1993, to spend the afternoon harvesting hallucinogenic 
 mushrooms in the damp fields of the area. According to his friends, he was 
 used to harvesting. He was also used to drinking alcohol and smoking 
 cannabis on a regular basis. He was penniless and his usual cannabis dealer 
 had just been arrested, subsequently, mushrooms were an easy substitute. He 
 left home at 1:30 p.m. and came back around 6:00 p.m. to meet some friends 
 of his in their usual bar. They said he was already high on drugs as he had 
 eaten on-site an unspecified number of raw mushrooms. He felt dizzy, 
 suffered from abdominal cramps and had difficulties in breathing. His 
 friends noticed that he was pale, he sometimes sweated abundantly and he 
 behaved as if he was drunk. Despite this alarming symptomatology, he took a 
 dozen of mushrooms out of his bag and ate them in front of his friends, 
 inviting them to share the remaining mushrooms boiles in tea. Four of them 
 accepted to do so. They boiled the tea at 8:30 p.m. using 20 to 40 
 mushrooms. This tea was shared and rapidly caused different effects 
 depending on the persons, which is common in this type of poisoning. 
  
 M. B., 20 years old drank half a cup of it and felt euphoric within 30 
 minutes, followed by a state of drunkenness and a loss of his balance. He 
 started vomiting, which slightly improved his state. He admitted he had 
 drunk 15 beers earlier that day. M.C. 36 years old drank one cup and ate 2 
 or 3 raw mushrooms. One hour later, he started feeling drunk and had colored 
 visions. M. D., 24 years old, did not remember the quantity he had ingested 
 but he said he had drunk a few beers earlier. He only felt a little drunk. 
 M.E., 20 years old, drank one cup and felt in a drunkenness state one hour 
 later, followed by paresthesy and cramps in her legs. As for M. A., the 
 victim, the participants had different opinions. Some said they had not seen 
 him drinking, others said that he joined them and drank the tea. This 
 opinion, approved by a majority of them seems to be the right one. Each 
 participant finally admitted that they felt restless, euphoric and voluble 
 at the end of those libations. Around 10:00 p.m., M.A. felt somnolent and 
 lay down. His breathing was irregular. His friends thought he was totally 
 drunk or had gone on a bad trip, because they could not make him stand up 
 and realized he had urinated in his trousers. They only started worrying at 
 midnight, when after some convulsions and spasms, he stopped reacting to 
 their calls and fell in a coma. Realizing that this was very serious, they 
 drove him to the hospital but unfortunately, there were no emergency 
 services ! Around 2:30 am; he was taken home, he was still unconscious. The 
 duty doctor was finally called. In vain, he tried to resuscitate him, he 
 could do nothing but certifying that the fatality has occurred. Given the 
 circumstances of the fatality, a judicial inquiry was ordered and a 
 postmortem examination was made to determine the cause of the fatality. 
  
  
 TOXICOLOGICAL ANALYSIS 
  
 We have looked for the usual toxins in the blood and urine samples, in the 
 kidney and in the liver. 
  
 Blood, urine and gastric content : The GC analysis of ethanol, alcohol and 
  
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