HC Deb 30 October 1996 vol 284 cc146-7W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances magic mushrooms are classed as illegal drugs. [990]

Mr. Sackville

The magic mushroom—psilocybe semilanceata—is not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, but it contains the substance psilocin and its derivative psilocybin, both of which are class A controlled drugs. Under the 1971 Act, any preparation or other product containing psilocin or psilocybin is also a class A controlled drug.

Persons have been held by the courts to be in possession of controlled drugs where they have in some way altered the natural state of the mushroom—for example, by drying—so as to constitute a preparation or other product.