Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jul 2001 Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Copyright: 2001 Chicago Tribune Company Contact: http://www.chicagotribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82 Author: Uli Schmetzer A HEADS-UP ABOUT 'MAGIC' MUSHROOMS Legal Loopholes Allow Hallucinogenic Fungi To Be Sold Openly In Japan, The Tribune's Uli Schmetzer Writes TOKYO -- The magic mushrooms Hiro offered on the pavement in fashionable central Shibuya arrived from Zurich custom-wrapped in cellophane, looking more like prehistoric fossils than a psychedelic drug. "This Swiss mushy is better quality than the Mexican and Hawaiian stuff you buy around the corner," Hiro boasted. He didn't whisper. He didn't have to. The prowling police officer was more interested in illegally parked cars than in the hallucinogenic mushrooms and Mexican peyote the young Japanese entrepreneur displayed in an open suitcase. Elsewhere in the world his drugs would have been considered Class A narcotics. Not in Japan. Despite many anti-narcotics laws, including one with a 5-year jail sentence for possession of marijuana, anyone here can buy as many magic mushrooms as their mind can tolerate. The ponytailed Hiro tries to explain the apparent discrepancy. "If I encourage you to eat it, that would be illegal. But not if I encourage you to buy it." Noting some perplexity on my part, he placed a soothing hand on my arm. "The law says if you know it's a narcotic and eat it, then you have broken the law. But if you think it's only a mushroom and eat it, man, that's fine." Thus the loophole in Japanese law. A spokesman for the customs office said importation of vegetables is indeed legitimate. Even a Justice Ministry official admitted that "magic mushrooms are not on the list of banned narcotics and therefore their sale and possession is not illegal." Food For Thought Most dealers chuckle among themselves and note that the authorities have no idea how a magic mushroom differs from the culinary species used in most Japanese dishes. As a result, mushroom munching is enjoying a renaissance unequaled since its golden era more than three decades ago when American hippies and global flower children trekked to Mexico's Sierra Madre del Sur in the central state of Oaxaca. In those days, the burning ambition of many a dropout was to "trip" with Maria Sabina, the high priestess of the mushroom cult. Her Indian cult, dating to pre-Hispanic days, came to a dramatic end after some of the mushroom eaters, thinking they could fly, jumped off mountains and died. Maria Sabina, allegedly 120 years old at the time of her arrest, was dragged into court. She eventually was exonerated, and the Mexican army closed off the Sierra Madre to hippie pilgrims. The psilocybin the hippies found in Mexican mushrooms was potent because it was ingested right after being plucked, before the strength of the drug was diminished by evaporation. Japanese dealers import dried mushrooms. This reduces the hallucinatory power of the fungi but still allows mushroom munchers a feast of colorful psychedelic experiences. A friend of mine ate only a small part of an imported Swiss mushroom. He later swore he saw the eyes pop from a portrait on the wall, saw the face grimace and that he could hear mosquitoes buzzing a half-mile away down by the beach. Competitive Environment In addition to street vendors, dozens of "head shops" furiously compete, advertising their wares in weekly magazines. Around the corner from where Hiro hawked his Swiss fungi stands the Golden Building. On the second floor a chain of shops known as Booty advertised "Magic Mushrooms 1 gram for 800 Yen [$6.70], Mexican mushrooms, Hawaiian mushrooms, peyote, pipes, bongs, hemp goods, incense. All the products we sell are legal by the constitution of Japan." Appended to such advertisements are detailed maps of how to arrive at the shops. The sudden public attention to the mushroom craze has made shopkeepers cautious about overstepping legal loopholes. Near Osaka, one shopkeeper advertised that his wares were "for use as ornaments." A middle-aged man near Osaka who recently jumped to his death from a building apparently ate more than the recommended portion. And police are still investigating the drug overdose death of a 19-year-old saleswoman working at a magic mushroom shop in Tokyo. Actor Goes Berserk The worst publicity for the fungi came when a friend gave a serious dose to Hideaki Ito, 25, an actor and teenage heartthrob. He was found running up and down a Tokyo street at 2:20 a.m. on April 10, yelling nonsense. Ito struggled like a man possessed when ambulance attendants carted him off to a hospital. Ito told police he had consumed "magic" mushrooms. He was released after treatment because, so a police officer explained later, "eating mushrooms is no crime in Japan." Not yet, but perhaps soon. Health officials announced this month that Japanese scientists are studying 13 types of mushrooms to determine whether these can be banned under the Narcotics Control Law. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth