Our most commonly asked question is whether buying spore syringes is legal? The answer in most cases is a resounding yes, BUT, it also depends. To understand why spore syringes are generally legal you have to understand:
- what a spore syringe is, and
- the legal legislation surrounding magic mushrooms.
First, it’s important to clarify the type of spore syringes we are referring to. In theory, creating a spore syringe from any mushroom is possible, as all mushrooms produce spores. We have yet to come across spore syringes for growing gourmet or medicinal mushrooms; they are usually sold in a liquid culture, or as spawn. We are therefore referring to any spore syringes containing mushroom spores that when cultivated contain psilocybin, e.g., psilocybe cubensis or panaeolus cyanescens.
What is a spore syringe?
A spore syringe is simply a syringe containing two ingredients: water and mushroom spores. The water does not contain any nutrients and acts simply as a suspension for the spores. As the water used is typically a distilled, non-nutrient H20, the spores won’t germinate and start producing mycelium. This is an important point to note because as soon as mycelium starts forming, the legal status completely changes.
Why are spore syringes legal?
While laws vary depending on location, the drug associated with magic mushrooms that is banned in all but a few countries, is psilocybin. During digestion, the human body breaks down psilocybin into psilocin, which contains psychedelic properties; hence the name “magic mushrooms”.
Magic mushroom spores don’t contain psilocybin: it only becomes present during germination, when mycelium starts forming. This is why magic mushroom spores are in most cases completely legal. Thus, it’s not the mushroom that’s illegal, rather the substance that it contains. The mycelium contains psilocybin so as soon as mycelium starts forming from these spores the legal status changes from legal to illegal. Hence why spore syringes are sold as they are in water. I have come across liquid culture syringes online containing psilocybe cubensis mycelium. Beware of these as they are illegal almost everywhere and the vendor may not even realise they are breaking the law as they don’t understand the legislation as outlined in this article.
When are spore syringes illegal?
Magic mushroom spores are still not legal in some places, e.g., in the US the spores are illegal in 3 of the 50 states, namely: California, Idaho and Georgia. When in doubt, before purchasing, it’s worth checking Google specifically for your country of residence, as the legal status can change.
When using spores for cultivating mushrooms, and living in a country where psilocybin is not tolerated, you’re now on the wrong side of the law.
The spores sold at mycotown are legally produced in Jamaica in a registered lab. It would be completely illegal for us to create spore syringes from spore prints of psilocybe cubensis mushrooms that we have grown ourselves. When in doubt as to whether a spore vendor is legally obtaining spores, always exercise extreme caution before making a purchase. The spores you obtain, besides being produced illegally, will probably have been subjected to less than ideal conditions, with increased likelihood of contamination.
Why do people buy spore syringes then?
People buy spore syringes for two reasons:
- For the purposes of studying the spores under a microscope, as hobbyists or mycology researchers.
- To cultivate mushrooms. This is legal in some countries and the law, as previously mentioned, is constantly changing. Denver has become the first US city to decriminalise magic mushrooms, with other cities following suit. Given the research currently being undertaken on the benefits of psilocybinfor people suffering from conditions such as depression and PTSD, we believe this trend will continue. If Big Pharma decides psilocybin is a drug they can use, it would be unsurprising if psilocybin starts to become legal in those countries they wish to distribute. There are also many supporters touting the benefits of micro-dosing psilocybin, with websites such as: thethirdwave.co providing information and courses on how to do this.
While we don’t promote magic mushroom use in any way, and respect the law, we believe the laws surrounding magic mushrooms are absurd. In our opinion, the government should not dictate the legal right of an adult to ingest anything that grows completely naturally. Additionally, reports showing the dangers of different substances show psilocybin to be much less harmful than e.g., alcohol, as shown in this chart from https://tripsafe.org/shrooms/
For a chart on the legal status of magic mushrooms (at the time of writing) in your country, see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_status_of_psilocybin_mushrooms.
We hope this article provides those of you that want to purchase psilocybe cubensis spore syringes with the information you need to stay on the right side of the law. If there’s anything we have missed, or that you are still unsure about, please comment below.