blog Posted October 3, 2006 The Force - Behind The Line 7.30pm – 8pm Seven Wednesday 4 October 2006 Segment details police busting magic mushroom pickers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted October 3, 2006 (edited) There was something on the news in the middle of sub season, where the cops were going to Sandringham Beach to give fines to men who meet in a gay chatroom and meet up there for sex. The cameras were following the cop around, and he bumped into a guy and asked him what he was doing there. The guy nervously replied, "picking mushrooms." The cop said, "I'm not here about mushrooms. Are you meeting someone here?" You get the drift. The guy had one of those small paper bags that kids take a sandwich to school in, and you could see that there were quite a few mushrooms in it because it was bulging a bit. I'm sure he wasn't picking Agaricus'. Anyway, I just thought that was interesting. It seems when the cops are dead set on persecuting homosexuals, it takes the heat off the psychonauts and trippers a little. But that will be interesting to see The Force. I love Border Security and The Force even though I know they're utter crap. They are the only shows where I can see all the devices they are using to suck me in and yet I still enjoy watching them. I normally hate shows where they chop back and forth from one bit to another and back again to make you watch the whole show, but they really pull it off by making it seem as though it's all happening right now. And unlike that What's Good For You show, they don't try to pass it off as quality programming. Thanks for the heads up anyway. It would be great if someone with the facilities could record it in digital format to post the shrooming related segment for members to add to their ethnobotanical media collections. Edited October 3, 2006 by ballzac Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted October 4, 2006 Hi ballzac, is it illegal to be homosexual in Australia? Sounds weird. If i´d be homosexual, i´d carry a bag containing mushrooms with me anytime i am going to meet someone. What a great alibi It´s sad i can´t watch the show. Please Tell me what happened. bye EG Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted October 4, 2006 It's not illegal to be gay (unless the term gay is defined as 'happy' or 'cheerful' ), but I think they were planning on charging people with public indecency or something. I doubt they'd go to the effort to stop hetorosexuals having sex. I think it's probably the old problem of people associating homosexuality with paedophilia, thinking that if men are meeting up for sex it puts the kiddies in danger. Just a guess anyway. On The Force, these two guys were stopped for picking mushrooms. They were fined $400 each I think, and had to appear in court. That was basically all, apart from the ignorant cops regurgitating all the usual anti-drug crap, and a lot of padding out by the show. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leo^ Posted October 4, 2006 I think the guys they caught didnt do to bad at putting up an arguement, but I would have loved to see them catch some people I theoretically know who pick and would have made the cops look like idiots with their knowledge. Who knows, these guys may have given some better arguments to show that they did really know what they were doing but could have been edited out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted October 4, 2006 (edited) The cops seemed to think there is only one active compound in mushrooms. Strangely it was psilocin, as usually I come across people who have only ever heard of psilocybin. Woulda' been funny if they charged the guys with posession of norbaeocystine. BTW, what were the mushrooms they showed? They weren't subaeruginosa which, as far as I know, are what people general pick in Ballingup. They looked like cortinarius or something, so I figured they were just a prop as they probably didn't want to show the audience which ones to pick. If so, they must've gone to the trouble of filling up plastic bags with them too. I really don't know though. Edited October 4, 2006 by ballzac Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted October 4, 2006 Sounds weird. If i´d be homosexual, i´d carry a bag containing mushrooms with me anytime i am going to meet someone. What a great alibi LMAO. EG, that's another awesomely funny post right there. naja, if that is the case I would be concerned 'cos people who watch it might attempt to go and pick mushrooms that look like that and ingest them thinking they're active. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
naja naja Posted October 4, 2006 naja, if that is the case I would be concerned 'cos people who watch it might attempt to go and pick mushrooms that look like that and ingest them thinking they're active. WTF??? I didn't say anything?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apothecary Posted October 4, 2006 LOL. Sorry. Last night I was working on this stupid finite state acceptor machine and my brain was just fried. That was addressed to ballzac. Sorry again Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sobriquet Posted October 4, 2006 The whole thing looked a bit staged to me; don't know why but it somehow appeared fake. The police and commentary said most of these pickings were at night and yet this somehow was there right on cue in broad daylight. It illustrated beautifully the stupidity of these laws. I mean no-one would be arrested for taking normal mushrooms, and the nonsensical application of laws to victimless 'crimes' where a person chooses what they do to themselves is total rubbish. Anyhow, if you're thinking of collecting you wouldn't do like these guys. For one thing you don't say you are going to eat them! Next thing is you'd collect them into little piles on the ground while collecting and not into plastic bags. Collect some other types of mushrooms into other distinct piles also. Collect them into small paper bags at the very end and leave the scene. Take some binoculars and a birding guide book with you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ergoamide Posted October 5, 2006 I saw it and got afew good laughs form it when the guys were smart asses to the cops an ther cops didnt knwo what to say hahaha. But i think the best line is, "your not gonna do a cavity search are ya?" That made me laugh so dam hard it was so funny rotflmao. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nabraxas Posted October 5, 2006 (edited) I think the guys they caught didnt do to bad at putting up an arguement i've been thinking about this & i have to say i disagree. as far as i could see the cops led that guy on. i don't think the cop gave a flying fuck one way or the other, he just wanted the guy to incriminate himself. "come on, we know what you've been doing" & the guy fell for it..... IMHO--NEVER engage w/cops. those guys should have stuck w/the "just taking a walk" story (sobriquet is dead right when he recommends binoculars & birdwatching books). they should have said they came across the bags ov shrooms, but didn't know what they were & were just going to leave them---thereby explaining fingerprints. Heck, as the cops said local kids sell maps to that area--w/so much traffic it requires cop patrols, anyone from the hoard ov pickers could have left that bag there.... NEVER incriminate yourself to a "friendly" cop....it's their job to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt...don't do their job for them those guys played right into the cops hands, a criminal record & a $400 fine. Edited October 5, 2006 by nabraxas Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted October 5, 2006 I think the best line is, "your not gonna do a cavity search are ya?" That made me laugh so dam hard it was so funny rotflmao. Yeah, that was pretty good, but the bit that struck me was when the cop was saying that people drive while under the influence, and he said, "so there are more issues other than just the health benefi...er..um...issues." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted October 5, 2006 So do any of you guys know if what they showed were actives? Like I said, they difinately weren't subs, and they didn't resemble any of the actives that are commonly discussed, or pictures I've seen online. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alkatrope Posted October 5, 2006 Anyone record it? I wasn't allowed to change the channel from 'Thank God You're Here'.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mescalito Posted October 5, 2006 Shit I missed it The best way is to wear a large camera bum-bag lined with a paper bag and carry your camera with you.After all it's not illegal to study mycology and take a few snaps and various species for ID purposes Cops are great at baiting and will do so any chance they get.Tell 'em your getting data and photos for fungi-map. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted October 5, 2006 (edited) Hi, in Germany there aren´t many problems like this. It´s weird that police hunts down Mushroom Pickers. They probably haven´t enough Gangsters to catch in Australia. It can´t be wrong to be a member of a mycological societyif you want to be on the safe side though! Or argue that you are collecting Mushrooms for some studies at the university. On the other hand i know some strange guys that start jumping over barbwire and running for their life when they´ve been spotted by the landowner. Such a behaviour is kind of risky of course. Don´t act strange if someone asks you what you are doing. Don´t act like you did something illegal. If you act like a normal person that´s looking for shrooms you can be sure that they never ever call the cops on you. And it´s good to collect all kind of mushrooms.Not just psilocybes.I guess it´s not even very illegal to collect Psilocybes in Error. Theoretically You could argue that you´d mistaken them for some kind of Agaricus or whatever. Specialists who sort out poisonous mushrooms at the local mushroom control stations get psilocybes all day long! It´s a common thing as the mushrooms are very common too. I´d use a big basket to store and collect them in the field. With pictures of Mushrooms printed on it. The more eye-catching the better. And better make sure not wear a rucksack. That always leaves the impression on cops that you´d carry a bong in it. Edited October 5, 2006 by Evil Genius Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted November 25, 2006 just in case anyone missed the link in the other post Cheers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted November 25, 2006 Yeah, thx for the link. Youtube is cool; too bad my connection isnt stable! You gotta see it in Order to believe it. Its very ridiculous how police acts up like theyre interested in avoiding mushroom intoxications. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
