The market for edible mushrooms is spreading underground

Magic mushrooms are making waves. You can stream Michael Pollan’s docuseries How to Change Your Mind on Netflix, hear quarterback Aaron Rodgers sing the praises of psychedelic mushrooms on a podcast, and read pages of cutting-edge research online about the potential therapeutic uses of mushrooms.

Although psychedelic mushrooms are in the collective consciousness, they are still commercially taboo. You won’t find Golden Teachers-laced gummies in your neighborhood pharmacy, nor will the most forward-thinking doctors prescribe psilocybin. Psychedelic decriminalization in a number of cities means laws have been relaxed for personal use, but that doesn’t make it legal to buy, sell, distribute, or advertise shrooms. A gulf separates the mushroom hype from what you can actually get your hands on.

Beneath the surface, however, underground innovators are busy filling that void, crafting products and designing experiences for those who want to flex their minds with mushrooms. Just as fungi expand mycelial networks beneath the surface, this grassroots movement operates underground, making fungi available to humans and providing a fascinating insight into the evolution of fungal culture.

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how do you like your mushrooms Shroom Shots, Chocolate, Kombucha and more

When it comes to mushroom-infused edibles, creativity is the order of the day. Innovative producers create magic kombucha, vegan drip shroom chocolate, fruity mushroom shots, organic sencha tea with magic mushrooms, gummies, capsules and more.

Will Padilla-Brown, citizen mycologist and founder of Mycosymbiotics and MycoFest, has seen a surge in mushroom products over the past year. “I’ve seen capsules, blister packs of pills, freeze dried mushrooms, candy bars, softgels, infused honey, psychedelic truffles, teas and psilocybin mixed with other functional mushrooms in capsules,” commented Padilla-Brown.

This influx of mushroom products has also led to innovations in extraction. A process called ultrasonically-assisted methanol extraction appears to yield the most stable psilocybin crystals, Padilla-Brown said. This extraction process works by perforating the cell wall of mushrooms with high-frequency sound waves, quickly releasing the active chemical compounds in the mushroom into a surrounding liquid solvent (methanol).

Other operators are opting for simpler, old-school methods. “I’ve seen some very interesting simple cold-water extractions — but they don’t last,” Padilla-Brown said. “You can leave fresh mushrooms in a jar in the fridge overnight and the water will be blue and infused the next day.”

But many edible mushrooms aren’t standardized and none are regulated, so it’s hard to know what you’re getting. In some cases, safety is questionable. “I’ve seen a lot of raw extracts in gummies that aren’t very reliable, and a lot of mushroom chocolates that aren’t homogenized,” Padilla-Brown said.

Reddit threads pondering the merits of these underground products discuss similar topics, with many debating whether mushroom candy bars contain psilocybin in the first place, or are instead fortified with a synthetic substitute, 4-AcO-DMT (psilacetin).

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How to buy edible mushrooms

In general, buyers often find illegal mushroom deals on social media and Reddit forums. Anonymous accounts and delivery services are handing out mushroom-infused treats with fun brand names and official-looking labels, trying to add a touch of legality to products that are anything but legal.

Some bold operators have taken up residence in physical storefronts, like The Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary, which shares space with the Coca Leaf Cafe in Vancouver, Canada. Despite warnings from city officials, the pharmacy remains steadfastly open — and it’s not the only place you can buy mushrooms in town.

Until recently, Mushroom Cuts, a barber shop, boasted a mushroom showroom featuring local mushroom products at its English Bay location. The showroom is now closed but online sales have started and the socially owned business seems to be booming with orders coming in seven days a week.

Psilocybin retreats need to be operating at rock bottom

Along with buying your own magic booch, gummies, and blister packs of pills, psilocybin retreats and gatherings are also slowly gaining traction. The organizers of such encounters often act under the radar.

“You have to be careful: you can’t ask for experiences; you can’t advertise,” said Craig Gross, founder of Creating Fun and Rainbow Ridge. “There are ways around it if you’re not doing it for profit. I am not participating in any product-related offer. I passed on experiences to people and created a space for them.”

During the pandemic, Gross ran a psilocybin retreat center called Rainbow Ridge in Santa Cruz, California, which provided free psilocybin immersion experiences to a handful of people at a time. Approximately 300 people attended Gross’s retreat at Rainbow Ridge while it was in operation.

According to Gross, Rainbow Ridge was one of many informal retreats conducted in the United States. Organizers rent out Airbnbs in cities where drug use has been decriminalized and then connect with participants over more secure, private networks like Signal or Telegram. There is no need to advertise as word of mouth does the heavy lifting.

Psilocybin as a religious sacrament

Another common way people can experience psilocybin is at spiritual gatherings, where mushrooms are treated as a religious sacrament. The Sacred Tribe of Denver, Colorado and Zide Door of East Oakland, California both incorporate magic mushrooms into their spiritual teachings and practices.

Members of these entheogenic organizations can travel together and, in the case of The Sacred Tribe, explore the overlapping tenets of psychedelia and Judaism. In the Sacred Tribe, members can access psilocybin sacraments in exchange for a donation.

However, despite the fact that both spiritual organizations operate in decriminalization cities, both have also faced serious opposition from local law enforcement agencies. Zide Door has been searched and Rabbi Ben Gorelick, leader of The Sacred Tribe, is currently facing drug charges.

Facilitating psilocybin experiences and gatherings can be difficult, even in places where psilocybin has been decriminalized and even when money isn’t changing hands.

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mushroom festivals

Churches aren’t the only destination for psilocybin-friendly gatherings. Padilla-Brown founded the mushroom and arts festival MycoSymbiotics, affectionately known as MycoFest, in 2015, which has since become an annual fixture for all things mushroom – magic and more.

“I saw MycoFest as a perfect opportunity to gather and discuss in person topics that many of us have only spoken about online, and also to give my friends a chance to have an audience and sell their wares,” said Padilla Brown.

It’s not just about talking and selling mushrooms, though. The event has a strong focus on ecological education, educating people on how to manage and protect the environment where mushrooms grow. “We take groups on hikes in the forest to find out what different mushrooms grow,” explains Padilla-Brown.

Mycofest is also filled with presentations and workshops throughout the day that focus on health and wellness. “Over the years we have conducted courses on identifying psychedelic safety in family settings, psychedelic mushrooms, the ecology of psychedelic mushrooms, and decriminalization education,” Padilla-Brown said.

Psychedelic decriminalization continues to gain momentum

In a way, the underground mushroom market is reminiscent of the early days of cannabis before the green rush – marked by those passionate about psychedelic mushrooms and keen to help them cross the line to legalization. Many mushroom companies are run by legacy operators who want to get in on the action before the big company takes over.

In one such show of support, Gross recently co-founded an initiative called Drug Camp, where supporters can buy a mushroom-themed t-shirt for cities that have decriminalized psilocybin and other psychedelic substances. A portion of the proceeds goes to Decriminalize Nature, an organization that aims to legalize entheogens, or psychedelics plants. Those who purchase a t-shirt also get access to a private chat group with information about psychedelic events.

“In the US, most of the operations that start at the grassroots are in the Denver, Oakland, Arcata, DC and Oregon state areas because they have the best decrim setups where the police look the other way,” Padilla explained – Brown.

With cities across the US being or in the process of being decriminalized, Gross decided the time was right to start a movement. “There are over 130 cities that are in the process of decriminalizing, so the thought of just following that movement was to say to the movement, ‘We’re changing history here.’ A t-shirt and some information about it could let people know what’s coming.”

Emma Stone

Emma Stone is a New Zealand-based journalist specializing in cannabis, health and well-being. She has a Ph.D. in sociology and has worked as a researcher and lecturer, but prefers to be a writer. She would enjoy spending her days writing, reading, walking outdoors, eating, and swimming.

Check out Emma Stone’s articles

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