Cook County Law Enforcement received a panicked call from an adult male in Hovland at about 5:30 p.m. on July 19. The man told the 9-1-1 dispatcher that he had eaten three “native hallucinogenic mushrooms” and that he was having auditory and visual hallucinations along with involuntary muscle spasms.
Hovland First Responders, Colvill First Responders and Cook County Ambulance were paged and were on scene by 6:12 p.m. The man was transported to North Shore Hospital.
The man first told emergency responders that he had picked the mushrooms, but later changed his story and said he was not sure where he had obtained them, so it is not known if the mushrooms were psilocybin mushrooms, which are illegal to possess.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, use of hallucinogenic mushrooms can result in negative physical and psychological consequences. The physical effects, which appear within 20 minutes of ingestion and last approximately six hours, include nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness, drowsiness, and lack of coordination. While there is no evidence that users may become physically dependent on psilocybin, tolerance for the drug does develop when it is ingested continuously over a short period of time.
The psychological consequences of psilocybin use include hallucinations and an inability to discern fantasy from reality. Panic reactions and psychosis also may occur, particularly if a user ingests a large dose.
In addition to the risks associated with ingestion of psilocybin, individuals who seek to abuse psilocybin mushrooms also risk poisoning if one of the many varieties of poisonous mushrooms is incorrectly identified as a psilocybin mushroom.
Possession of psilocybin mushrooms could result in a fifth degree drug possession charge, which could result in five years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine. The man was not charged with possession of an illegal substance.
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