Psilocybin mushrooms

What are they?

These are mushrooms containing the substances psilocybin and psilocin. They do not belong to a single genus: species are reported in Psilocybe, Panaeolus, Gymnopilus, Inocybe and even Galerina. Most are small, brown and ordinary-looking, which makes telling them apart from deadly species by eye almost impossible. Clinical research is ongoing; that does not mean an approved treatment. [5]

Legal status in Turkey

• Psilocybin and psilocin are listed in Schedule I of the UN 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. [1]
• Turkey signed the Convention on 21 February 1971 and ratified it on 1 April 1981. [2]
• The Convention lists the active substances, not the mushrooms themselves; national practice can still treat the mushrooms as drugs. Dried mushrooms seized by Turkish customs in 2013 were officially described as a "psilocybin-type narcotic substance". [5][4]
• Article 188 of the Turkish Penal Code covers manufacturing, importing, exporting, selling and possessing narcotic or stimulant substances; article 191 covers buying, accepting, possessing for use and using them. [3]

This section is general information, not legal advice.

Why they are dangerous: deadly look-alikes

Psilocybe cyanescensInedible · legally controlled Galerina marginataDeadly poisonous

They can grow side by side on wood chips and rotting wood; this confusion has had fatal results. [6][7]

Psilocybe semilanceataInedible · legally controlled Inosperma erubescensDeadly poisonous

Little brown grassland mushrooms are confused with muscarine-containing Inocybe species. [8]

Species in the guide

• Inedible · legally controlled Banded mottlegill Panaeolus cinctulus Bolbitiaceae
• Inedible · legally controlled Liberty cap Psilocybe semilanceata Hymenogastraceae
• Inedible · legally controlled Wavy cap Psilocybe cyanescens Hymenogastraceae