People eat some of it now called Diamond Shruumz brand candies have also taken a dose of illegal substances from magic mushrooms, testing by the Virginia poison control center has confirmed.
The Blue Ridge Poison Center at the University of Virginia said it found psilocin among the undisclosed substances. Diamond Shruumz gummies.
Psilocin, like the hallucinogenic psilocybin found in some types of mushrooms, is a substance controlled by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
“You can’t look at the label and say, ‘Oh, I know what’s in here, I know how to treat this,’ or if I’m a consumer, ‘I know what I’m taking,'” Dr. Avery Michienzi, assistant professor of medicine emergency at the University of Virginia who is the lead author of the report, told CBS News. The team’s findings were published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Michienzi is also the assistant medical director at the Blue Ridge Poison Center, which takes calls from the public and doctors in central Virginia, Michienzi said, a largely rural part of the state that includes 48 hospitals.
“I would caution that people should be very careful with these products because now, no one is looking, no one is regulating, and they can put whatever they want as long as they don’t put a label,” he said.
The center began testing mushroom gum from multiple brands to help doctors treat patients after five emergency room visits — including a child who accidentally ate gum — in the area last year were related to eating gum. More has been reported since.
“We like to know what’s going on around the community so we can tell doctors and patients exactly what to use when they come to the emergency department,” Michienzi said.
Michienzi’s center tested chewing gum bought at local smoke shops and gas stations, which had been marketed as natural “nootropics” to help improve cognition or as a legal alternative to psilocybin to achieve psychedelic experiences.
UVA Health
Scientists at the University of Virginia broke the gummies down into a solution, then used an approach called high-resolution mass spectrometry which can match unidentified compounds found in the gummies against a library of known chemicals.
Instead of psilocybin, some of the chewing gum tested has been labeled claiming to use a legitimate extract from a mushroom called Amanita muscaria. These mushrooms can cause hallucinogenic effects, but are rarely ingested because they cause side effects like seizures and gastrointestinal disturbances.
In the recall, Nabi Premium Blends claimed that unexpected levels of muscimol from Amanita mushrooms were to blame for Diamond Shruumz’s problems.
“It’s not like most people are looking for a psychedelic experience. So what made me scratch my head a little bit, when I got the call for the case. I said, ‘wait, what? We sell Amanita muscaria gummies now?’,” she said.
Michienzi said his center has not reported any cases of poisoning linked to Diamond Shruumz candy, unlike other countries that have had serious illnesses.
At least 69 illnesses and 36 hospitalizations have been linked to eating Diamond Shruumz “edibles,” the CDC said, which include chocolate and cones as well as chewing gum. Many inpatients have already in the child.
“We have had several pediatric ingestions, and they worry about me a little more, because the child does not want to eat the appropriate, quote unquote, one dose of it. They just want to eat it, and it tastes good so they continue to eat it,” he said. Michienzi.
Testing of Diamond Shruumz brand chocolate bars by the Food and Drug Administration has yielded other unknown substances like psilacetin, sometimes dubbed “synthetic shrooms.” More tests of products from the brand are planned.
“FDA has begun collection and analysis of samples and more information will be provided to our advisors as they become available,” Courtney Rhodes, an FDA spokeswoman, said in an email.
FDA have urged smoke shops and other retailers to stop selling products in the new day, after finding they are still on the shelves more than a month after the agency warned about the product now-recalled.
Michienzi cautioned that the problem is not unique to Diamond Shruumz. Poisoning treated in the region has been linked to chewing gum from other brands, which they say are still being found in stores alongside new products appearing on shelves.
Another brand the Blue Ridge Poison Center purchased from a local smoke shop and gas station was found to have psilocybin in addition to psilocin, as well as other ingredients not disclosed on the label. Other brands have the hallucinogen DMT. All three were found to have ephedrine, which can cause opioid addiction.
“The owners and the people who work there tell us that, ‘Oh, we can’t sell this brand anymore. We’ve been told it’s not good. So they keep changing,'” Michienzi said.
