10 September 12 - 18, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents tested some of the products and found they contain substances not listed on the packag- ing, including a synthetic hallucinogen called 4-AcO-DMT. This psychedelic is gen- erally referred to as synthetic mushrooms, as its effects are very similar to real magic mushrooms, which contain the active psy- chedelic ingredient psilocybin, a Schedule I controlled substance. Both psilocybin and 4-AcO-DMT convert into psilocin when in- gested, which causes people to trip. As it turns out, FDA tests also revealed that the Diamond Shruumz mushroom edi- bles contained psilocin (another Schedule I controlled substance) and the prescription drug pregabalin, which is used to treat nerve pain. We reached out to the company behind the edibles about these findings but have not heard back from them. The folks at the FDA aren’t the only ones interested in what’s turning up in these mushroom edibles. A Colo- rado-based company called Tryptomics tested a number of these edibles from different brands for the Los Angeles Times and found roughly 10%–30% contained 4-AcO- DMT. The synthetic sub- stance was also found in the mushroom edibles from a brand called TRE House that we tried and tripped on a few months ago. Products like these can be found all over the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Christopher Pauli, cofounder of Tryp- tomics, said that the synthetic drug could be contaminated with toxic heavy metals and residual solvents. He also said some manu- facturers are putting other synthetic sub- stances in their mushroom products, such as 4-HO-MET and 4-Acetoxy-MET, which are also psychedelic. Pauli said the company first became in- terested in testing these products when a client told him last December they had got- ten sick after eating a mushroom chocolate bar. After that, Pauli said, “We did find quite a bit of chocolate bars that are either from smoke shops or different kinds of retailers that had 4-AcO-DMT.” Asked about the legality of these syn- thetic mushrooms, the FDA wouldn’t an- swer the Los Angeles Times. The agency is “not commenting on the lawfulness of par- ticular ingredients,” it told the publication. The tests also revealed the products lack uniformity, with some containing more sub- stances than others. “It was kind of shocking to see how many bars there were with [4-AcO-DMT] and the lack of consistency between them,” Pauli said. According to the Los Angeles Times, some of the products contained a different psychoactive fungus with unpleasant side effects, and one contained only bath salts. One problem with identify- ing products with illicit sub- stances is there are legitimate mushroom edibles out there that won’t send you to the hos- pital or make you trip, Pauli said. Another issue is there are also counterfeit products out there. All of these could, or should, come with QR codes that lead people to lab results for the products they’re buying. But as the Los Angeles Times found, the lab results aren’t always for the product you’ve bought and may not be accurate. This can be trouble- some for a number of reasons. For one, you don’t know what you’re taking or how much of it you’re taking. And because you don’t know what’s in a given product, you also don’t know if it will react adversely with other substances you may have in your sys- tem, such as medication, said Caleb King, the other cofounder of Tryptomics. Unfortunately, the openness with which these products are sold might give some a false sense of security when they don’t really know what they’re consuming. “It all boils down to informed consent, really, that I think as a con- senting adult, you should be told what you’re being given,” Pauli said. “You have no way of kind of protecting yourself.” Jacob Vaughn These are just a couple of the questionable mushroom products we’ve seen pop up on store shelves in North Texas over the last year. Unfair Park from p8 “WE DID FIND QUITE A BIT OF CHOCOLATE BARS THAT ARE EITHER FROM SMOKE SHOPS OR DIFFERENT KINDS OF RETAILERS THAT HAD 4-ACO-DMT.” -CHRISTOPHER PAULI
