Before people run out and do this, anyone know of any negative side effects?
I'm a bit prone to anxiety and my only experience with a drug everyone said was harmless (prescription pot) was terrifying.
I'm a bit prone to anxiety and my only experience with a drug everyone said was harmless (prescription pot) was terrifying.
It's still possible for the substance to have some subtle, interesting effects at these doses. Things such as an increased creative ability, enhanced energy, and insight. Some people take microdoses of psychedelics to improve their problem-solving abilities. At these doses, your anxiety should be much lower than if you took a regular (nevermind a mindblowing) dose outright.
After a number of such microdose trips, it's possible to slowly increase the dosage. Hopefully, as you do this, you'll become more familiar with the territory and know what to expect, and there will be less fear of the unknown and of the novel effects you will likely experience.
That said, there can be some negative effects -- particularly nausea. Also, it's dangerous to pick wild mushrooms, which can be poisonous if a mistake in identification is made. There's a saying in the mycology community: There are old mushroom hunters, and there are bold mushroom hunters. But there are no old, bold mushroom hunters.
Ideally, you'd only partake of mushrooms under the guidance of an experienced mycologist (and after having done a lot of research yourself about proper mushroom identification).
Unfortunately, an experienced mycologist is not always available, and the mushrooms available on the black market are often dried, crumbled, and in a state that's virtually impossible to identify anyway. The potency and even the active ingredient in such samples is very questionable. They could easily be laced with LSD or some other drug and you may be none the wiser.
Some people advocate only ever taking synthetic compounds like LSD, which are at least less likely to be counterfeit when taken as blotter or microdots (because they are so small that no other drug would be potent enough to do anything at that dosage). However, some newer designer drugs are almost as potent as LSD, and are potentially more toxic. So it's not clear what should be recommended, if one is concerned about side-effects, identity of the compound, or toxicity. Perhaps growing or synthesizing one's own would then be the safest route. But, of course, depending on the laws in your jurisdiction and depending on your skills, these options may come with their own risks.
As a member of this subset, and I don't touch the stuff.
My experiences with mushrooms (and a host of other drugs) have, however, been largely positive.
Your mileage may vary, of course.
You can have a bad trip with pretty much anything. Bad trips on psilocybin are common, especially if you don't have anyone to help you redirect your mind to a better place. However, unlike pot anxiety, even the bad trips often seem valuable in retrospect.
I personally know of one person for whom the trip didn't end on schedule. She had to stay at her mom's place for a few days while she emailed dozens of poems to her friends about how much she loved them. But as far as I know she's "normal" now. You can find cases of LSD-induced depression as well, just Google it. Some apologists try to claim these cases are just "unmasking a problem that was there already", but that is cold comfort for someone who gets it. So no, it's not 100% safe.
Unfortunately, we can't really measure the incidence or tell what these effects are because the drugs are illegal - so we don't know how many people used them or what exactly they consumed.
Maybe a lower risk path is starting with yoga and meditation (and stop immediately if it appears you are experiencing a psychotic episode; avoid teachers that think this isn't possible).
I wouldn't recommend trying them alone without someone who knows the space (very well) and can guide you if your anxiety begins.
Physiologically, aside from maybe a tiny bit of stomach discomfort in the beginning, they're harmless, less neurologically damaging than a glass of wine.
Bad trips happen, but studies have concluded that given the right set and setting --meaning, feeling secure in your environment-- the risk of such is greatly lowered.
Keep in mind that the vast majority of people have good experiences as long as they come prepared.