'NZ woman dies from magic mushrooms'

[Conan Troutman]

NZ woman dies from magic mushrooms

Friday May 25 10:28 AEST

A New Zealand woman has died after eating magic mushrooms, police in the North Island said.

Senior Sergeant Marcus Lynam, of Hamilton police, said the 23-year-old died at 10pm (2000 AEST) on Thursday after consuming "a quantity" of magic mushrooms.

He warned the public of the dangers of the mushrooms, which contain an active ingredient classified as an illegal class A controlled drug.

he compounds in the mushrooms were psychedelics and caused hallucinations and possibly paranoia. They can induce a "bad trip" and can be fatal.

"Under no circumstances should magic mushrooms be consumed," he said.

Sen Sgt Lynam said there was also danger in consuming any unknown wild mushroom.

Investigations were continuing to determine the exact cause of the woman's death and the matter had been referred to the coroner.

Police do not intend to release the woman's name.

NineMSN http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=269269

[shruman]

Trust a newspaper to create unproven unwarranted hype.

"Investigations were continuing to determine the exact cause of the woman's death and the matter had been referred to the coroner."

Probly ate a Galerina.

[Ace]

PROPEGANDA BULLSHIT!!!! Actual hallucinogenic mushrooms (those mostly found in the Psilocybe genus) will not kill someone - the active constituents have too high an LD-50 to pose any more of a threat than coffee. The deceased person must have consumed a mushroom outside the Psilocybe genus.

he compounds in the mushrooms were psychedelics and caused hallucinations and possibly paranoia. They can induce a "bad trip" and can be fatal.

Talk about a load of mis-information! Now where is that table that was posted a while back showing the statistics of effective dose compared to poisonous doses?? I'm 99% positive that psilocybes were one of the safest on the list!

Fucking hopeless journo's and their bullshit 'stories'....

[Auxin]

This is why shrooms should be sold in stores, no fatalities that way.

[gerbil]

So FIRST she 'dies from magic mushrooms'

THEN she dies 'after consuming "a quantity" of magic mushrooms.'

THEN 'Investigations were continuing to determine the exact cause of the woman's death and the matter had been referred to the coroner.' Talk about digging a hole.

I don't think mushrooms should be sold in shops...Ideally i'd like to see the journalist lose his/her job, firstly for spreading misinformation and secondly for not actually being competent as a journalist...isn't part of reporting 'fact' making sure the story actually makes sense? Not only is the factual data missing, but the article does not make any sense based on the contradictions.

Does anyone know who actually wrote the article? I can't find a mention of that.

I mean some of it can make sense if they want to be technical, just in the same sense that 'gerbil died after he was born'...

[devance]

You can't die of psy mushrooms.

Always have ones tribe.

[teonanacatl]

The article is obviously crap but just for intrest sake why couldnt a population of psilocybes contain another compound capable of death, many mycotoxins are deadly. Just because it hasnt happened doesnt mean it cant, and as we are essentially dealing with poisonous organisms and purposely intoxicating ourselves with them we should be aware of this. See feeling sick and vomiting is your body trying to tell you somthing is up and trying to remove that from your body.

Also LD50 is ok but look up LDO i think it is "lowest recorded death". remember LD50 is only enough to kill 50% that means 20% could have died at a much lower dose.

[naja naja]

Or they may even have been picked from a local park that had redently been sprayed with toxic chems.

Most likely though, this is just another classic case of mis-identifycation.

[Torsten]

she could have also had anaphylactic shock.

[Ace]

So, it is just as likely for someone to die of say, sugar or ham in the case of anaphylactic shock? In that it is an allergen that could potentially be anything?

Wow - I'd better inflate my man-bubble and get in it quick before something comes near me - especially a mushroom!

[Ace]

Jeebers! I hope my man-bubble isnt made of latex!!

[XipeTotec]

she could have jumped of a bridge, like shane on degrassi high did on lsd!!

[Ace]

In that case, it wouldnt be death from actual consumption - more the effects from the active constituents. Still, it is actually very plausible, considering there is so little facts presented in the article.

[XipeTotec]

nah, thats "Spike" and shane!! a while after the accident, he told her that he would, "ki, ki, kick her in the head" lol!!

Edited May 25, 2007 by shroomytoonos

[tonic]

Stupid article. I like the Degrassi High reminiscence though. I remember those episodes as if they were yesterday, nice one Shroomy and GCF. Ahhhh the memories of a misspent youth worshipping the TV gods.

[nabraxas]

I don't think mushrooms should be sold in shops.

too right ....they should be freely available in pubs & clubs, just like the peanuts on the bar.

[Auxin]

It may not be as profound in effectiveness as ibogaine, ayahuasca, or even peyote but my understanding is mushies tend to reduce incidence of alcoholism... what pub owner would want that around?

[teonanacatl]

there are people who abuse things like mushrooms just like there is with alcohol, free from a bar wouldnt help this, selling them from head shops would work i guess.

[nabraxas]

people who may abuse shrooms would still abuse them even if they had to pay for them.

i personally don't think shrooms should become another product to make profit on.

[ballzac]

The main problem with this article is that they state, as fact, that magic mushrooms "can be fatal". It is one thing to claim that someone has apparantly died from them, because if anyone ever does, then there has to be a first, but it is another to make a statement in general that has absolutely no basis in fact and no references to back it up.

On anaphylaxis: I think the most common substance for people to suffer an anaphylactic reaction to is peanuts, but when someone dies from peanuts, they don't use it as propaganda to deter people from eating peanuts.

Should magic mushrooms be sold in shops? I think they should. Many enthusiasts will still like to hunt them down in the wild, and can therefore get them for free, but why shouldn't stores be able to make a small profit from the sale of such mushrooms? It's not like they would be exploiting peoples' addictions.

On abuse: I don't think it is possible to 'abuse' magic mushrooms. Goddammit I've tried! I think mushrooms are really great in the way they teach patience, and the experience can never lose its wonder.

[teonanacatl]

I know people who can abuse magic mushrooms, all drugs are open to abuse. I actually think people should only be allowed to grow or hunt them themselves. Nothing is without risk, I think the risks should be clearly and properly represented, but I also believe we should be able to choose freely what risks we engage in.

Also i was wrong its not LDO its LDLO you want thats the lowest published lethal dose, which for LSD is 0.0007 mg kg-1, so for a 60kg male thats 42mics thats considered a light dose on erowid.

Edited May 26, 2007 by teonanacatl

[teonanacatl]

people can become sensitised to anything, Pt metal and Zn are two big ones for chemists i believe. Likewise acetone and other solvents can do the same.

[occidentalis]

Also i was wrong its not LDO its LDLO you want thats the lowest published lethal dose, which for LSD is 0.0007 mg kg-1, so for a 60kg male thats 42mics thats considered a light dose on erowid.

What species was this data for - humans are different to rats and rabbits (although perhaps more sensitive to LSD).

[Conan Troutman]

"sacred and cold" you say?, sounds like shrooms for sure

also was anyone thinking about writing and describing some of there opinions to the editor?

Edited May 27, 2007 by Conan Troutman

[teonanacatl]

creach its an LDLO for an oral dose on a human

http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/LY/d-lyserg...ethylamide.html

can find more aswell