Netherlands considers mushroom ban

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — The famously liberal Netherlands has been swinging toward the right, cracking down on immigration, religious freedoms and the freewheeling red-light district. The next possible target? Magic mushrooms.

The death of a 17-year-old French girl, who jumped from a building after eating psychedelic mushrooms while on a school visit, has ignited a campaign to ban the fungi — sold legally at so-called "smartshops" as long as they're fresh.

Regulation of mushrooms is even less stringent than Holland's famously loose laws on marijuana, which is illegal but tolerated in "coffee shops" that are a major tourist attraction.

Gaelle Caroff's parents blamed their daughter's death in March on hallucinations brought on by the mushrooms, although the teenager had suffered from psychiatric problems in the past.

In May, Health Minister Ab Klink ordered the national health institute to perform a new study on the risks of mushrooms. Depending on the conclusions, which are due next month, he said he would either recommend that mushroom sales be limited to those 18 and older or impose a total ban.

A 1971 U.N. convention on psychotropic substances banned psilocybin, the main active ingredient in mushrooms, in its purified form. But the legal status of mushrooms themselves was long unclear. Over the last six years, they have been outlawed in Denmark, Japan, Britain and Ireland. It is also illegal to sell psilocybin-containing mushrooms in all U.S. states, but the status of spores, homegrown and wild species varies from state to state.

Peter Van Dijk, a researcher at the Netherlands' independent Trimbos Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, said risks grow if mushrooms are combined with alcohol or cannabis, or if people already have psychiatric problems.

"They really shouldn't use mushrooms, because that can trigger psychosis," he said.

A study published in January by Amsterdam's health services said the city's emergency services were summoned 148 times to deal with a negative reaction to mushrooms in 2004-2006. Of those, 134 were foreigners, with Britons forming the largest group.

If the government does ban mushrooms, it will be in keeping with conservative trends that have been sweeping the country in recent years.

Last month, authorities announced a major crackdown on organized crime in Amsterdam's red-light district. And the country's marijuana policies have also been under pressure, with authorities launching more aggressive prosecution of growers.

Brothers Murat and Ali Kucuksen, whose farm "Procare" supplies about half the psychedelic mushrooms on the Dutch market, say they are afraid their business will now be forced to close.

"The reputation of the product is down the drain," Ali Kucuksen said.

For many, however, it is still business as usual at Amsterdam's smartshops.

Chloe Collette, the owner of the Full Moon shop in Amsterdam, showed a group of British backpackers the various types of psychedelic mushrooms on sale Thursday.

She said she doesn't sell to people under 18 and tries to screen out customers who appear unstable. But she acknowledged there is no way to be sure. She said she recommends people find a park or someplace outside where they can sit and talk with friends when they take them.

"People need to feel comfortable when they take it," she said. "It's something natural that makes you connected to yourself."