A Nimbin farmer is concerned for the safety of people foraging for magic mushrooms in his paddocks after he sprayed a large patch with herbicide.<\/p>\n
Scott Ford regularly sees psychedelic fungi foragers in his fields as Nimbin day “trippers” and those looking to sell mushrooms on the streets of the tourist town comb his cow manure for “gold tops”.<\/p>\n
In Australia taking magic mushrooms or psilocybin is illegal, except for medical treatment for certain conditions.<\/p>\n
Last week the cattle farmer noticed a large patch of Psilocybe cubensis, commonly known as magic mushrooms or gold tops, as he used herbicide to control nutgrass.<\/p>\n
“When I was spraying, I saw a patch of mushrooms; the next day the whole patch was gone.<\/p>\n
“Someone’s come along and helped themselves to what looked to be nice mushrooms, but they have been sprayed with a toxic poison.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Scott Ford regularly uses poison, including this herbicide, to keep weeds down on his property. (ABC News: Elloise Farrow-Smith)<\/p>\n
Mr Ford said many farmers needed to use herbicide to maintain their land.<\/p>\n
“All chemicals have a safe period after they are applied, this one in particular, it’s one month that the cattle shouldn’t be in the paddock after it’s been sprayed.<\/p>\n
“I don’t know what the toxicity effects of the chemical would be on someone ingesting it, but if my cattle can’t eat the grass for a month, I am sure it’s not going to be healthy for a human.”<\/p>\n
Mr Ford is concerned but also fed up with the trespassers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Scott Ford warns people to stay off his farm and says people are ignorant of what farm biosecurity means. (Supplied: Scott Ford)<\/p>\n
His roadside fence displays a large biosecurity warning sign telling would-be trespassers to call ahead and ask permission.<\/p>\n
“Everyone seems to think that farmland is free access; quite often I go down and find fences separated and gates down.<\/p>\n
“I find people just wandering around the property, whole families and their dogs walking through.”<\/p>\n
Mr Ford said when he confronted them they said, “I was told to come out here, this is the spot to find magic mushrooms.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Scott Ford attaches his weed sprayer to his tractor to cover every inch of his paddocks. (ABC News: Elloise Farrow-Smith)<\/p>\n
Toxic mushrooms<\/p>\n
NSW Poisons Information Centre clinical toxicologist Jonathan Brett said the herbicide used by the farmer was likely to be low risk to people consuming the sprayed mushrooms.<\/p>\n
“Generally these things can cause a bit of gastrointestinal upset. The amounts found sprayed on crops, if you ate them, it would be low toxicity,” he said.<\/p>\n
Dr Brett is a professor of medicine at the University of New South Wales and, as a specialist in addiction treatment, he is more concerned about the risks posed by mushrooms.<\/p>\n
“If you don’t know what you’re looking for there are significant public health risks around mushroom toxicity,” he said.<\/p>\n
“There are a lot of species in Australia that are pretty toxic, that look quite similar to the psilocybin mushrooms.”<\/p>\n
Dr Brett said there was a possibility magic mushrooms or gold tops could even be confused with lethal death cap mushrooms.<\/p>\n
“The problem with mushrooms is there is a huge diversity of species and also a huge diversity in how they look at different stages of their life cycle,” he said.<\/p>\n
They also have a “use-by date”.<\/p>\n
“Mushrooms can go off, unless you dry them, they can get colonised by other fungi, which can cause nausea and vomiting,” Dr Brett said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jonathan Brett says the mushrooms could be confused with lethal death caps (pictured). (ABC News: Penny McLintock)<\/p>\n
Nearly half of all calls to poisons info line concern magic mushrooms<\/p>\n
In a recent paper<\/a> Dr Brett examined calls to the NSW Poisons Information Centre relating to “classic psychedelics”.\u00a0<\/p>\n Forty-seven per cent of calls related to bad psilocybin (magic mushroom) reactions.<\/p>\n With the popularity of psychedelics for use in treating mental health disorders, Dr Brett is urging psilocybin use under medical supervision and in a controlled environment.<\/p>\n Foragers frequent the cow paddocks of Nimbin’s farms in search of the psilocybin-containing mushrooms. (Supplied: Scott Ford)<\/p>\n In July 2023, psilocybin<\/a> became listed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration<\/a> (TGA) under Schedule 8 of the Poisons Standard, to allow specifically authorised psychiatrists to use it under medical supervision for certain mental health conditions, such as treatment-resistant depression.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n