Here's Why Magic Mushrooms Are the Safest Recreational Drug

Mushrooms may in fact be the safest recreational drug to use, according to a new study.

magic mushroom
Getty

Image via Getty/Marcel ter Bekke

magic mushroom

If the prospect of a bad trip has kept you from trying psychedelic drugs, a new set of data might ease your fears. A survey of over 12,000 people showed taking mushrooms might actually be the safest recreational drug use you can partake in.

The Global Drug Survey, an annual study that sets out to explore the habits and trends behind drug use, found some interesting data about how people react to specific drugs. When they asked users which drugs led to eventual hospital visits, mushrooms were by far the lowest and "safest" drug on the list. Only 17 people total, or 0.2 percent of the polling sample, reported a need to take a trip to the hospital because of mushrooms.

Part of the reason behind this, the Global Drug Survey believes, stems from the shared experience portion of taking mushrooms. In their conclusion on the use of mushrooms, they described the context for the numbers:  

The rate is considerably lower than with LSD presumably because of intrinsic safety of magic mushrooms (the greatest risk is picking the wrong type), the smaller dosing using units (a single mushroom v an LSD tab) and greater understanding of how many mushrooms may constitute a typical dose for a desired effect in your region. People who use psychedelics are generally very sensible and show some of the best preparation and adoption of harm reduction practices of any drug.

In plain terms, people who take mushrooms take less of them in comparison to other drugs, and they go into the experience better prepared than users of LSD, or other experimental drugs. Though people tend to see drugs like shrooms as a means of escape, putting in the work to understand what you're ingesting apparently goes a long way toward having a safe experience.

That's not to say you'll have an A1 experience every time, however. Further questions revealed over five percent of mushroom users experienced difficult or negative experiences, and while that's still the lowest amongst drugs in the psychedelic category, it's much higher than the percentage of people who thought a hospital visit was necessary.

In general, fewer drug users reported a need to go to the hospital as a result of their consumption compared to those drinking alcohol (1.3 percent) or using weed (0.6 percent), cocaine (1 percent), LSD (1 percent), or MDMA (1.2 percent).

Part of this can be tied to a broader tenet of drug culture, because when you're doing something dangerous and/or illegal, avoiding the cops (or anyone you can't trust, for that matter) is a priority. The survey mentions this phenomenon in their section on policing:

"Criminal records for personal possession of drugs can ruin careers and opportunities and costs the police and legal system considerable time and money for uncertain gain," they said. "Encounters with newer policing methods of drug detection dogs (“sniffer dogs”) can encourage high-risk behaviors."

If you're looking for drugs to avoid, the study highlighted a few of the most dangerous. Synthetic weed had an emergency medical treatment rate of 3.2 percent, and it came in a distant second to meth, which saw 4.8 percent of its users seeking emergency treatment. Women had higher hospital rates on average than men, and the difference was particularly stark with meth—over eight percent of female meth users sought emergency treatment, compared to 3.7 percent of men who tried the drug. The people who made those "Meth—Not Even Once" commercials must have been on to something.

So, if you're looking to try something new and crazy over the weekend, mushrooms are probably your best bet. And remember, this is not an endorsement—we're just presenting the fact, people.

Latest in Life