Man dies after taking Magic Mushrooms

Miguel_Sanchez

Spotted on the front page of a tabloid this morning a story about a guy who took magic mushrooms and then jumped off a balcony (the age old 'thought he could fly' story).

Now this is the one that will start people calling for the sale of fresh magic mushrooms to be made illegal.

Does anyone have links to the story as I didn't get a chance to read it properly?

Do you think the government will try to change the law after this?

Giblet

But it wasn't the mushrooms that killed him!

Mossy Monk

i heard about a man who died after drinking water

Dave!

I can't find it online... you sure you got it right? You remember what paper it was?

Anyways, as Giblet said, it wasn't the mushies that killed him, it was f*ckingeejitry.

On a side note, I saw an anti-marijuana ad on Dublin bus today... It was in the form of a magazine called 'Spliffs' and had things like, '50 ways to waste your dosh on dope' and 'stoned? youre off the team, hash and sports dont mix'.

Gotta love conservative propaganda...

whiskeyman

Mossy Monk wrote:

i heard about a man who died after drinking water

Dihydrogen Monoxide strikes again!!

Fozzy

Sure it was the stupidity that killed him, if he thought he could fly, then why didn't he just fly up to the balcony?

Dave!

Stupidity again At least test your wings out before jumping off the balcony! :eek:

Bill Hicks does a whole thing about this...

AARRRGH

Mossy Monk wrote:

i heard about a man who died after drinking water

Apparently if you drink a gallon of water very quickly you will have a heart attack, due to the electrolytes (??) in your blood going out of sync?? (the electrolyte bit might be wrong, but it's something like that.)

Miguel_Sanchez

Well I know it wasn't the mushrooms that killed him. But you know the way the tabloids go - they'll hone in on that one thing - even though he could have drunk about twenty pints too.

I think it was on the front page of the Sun but I can't be sure.

And no matter how many mushies you take I've never seen anyone believe that they can fly. Most likely he was just a ****ing eejit who thought he could manage the drop from the balcony.

I'll just be curious to see if this brings about any sort of campaign to try and get the law changed regarding magic mushrooms.

FX Meister

Eye witness reports said he just got up and ran to the balcony and then tried to fly off it. I wonder how he tried to fly? Did he flap his arms and jump or just hold them out and make airplane noises as he stepped off.
How come people who commit suicide by jumping off buildings aren't reported as trying to fly? Surely they are the ones to worry about as they are sober, not the ones off their faces on drugs, at least they have some excuse.

monkeyfudge

DaveMcG wrote:

IOn a side note, I saw an anti-marijuana ad on Dublin bus today... It was in the form of a magazine called 'Spliffs' and had things like, '50 ways to waste your dosh on dope' and 'stoned? youre off the team, hash and sports dont mix'.

Oh is that what that is?

I didn't pay much attention to it but I thought it was an advert for an actual magazine... I was a bit offended at the fact that they thought they'd be targeting their key demographic in my local shopping centre.

whiskeyman

Jeff_Lebowski wrote:

a guy who took magic mushrooms and then jumped off a balcony

I thought a comedian pushed him?





Oh wait... it was a different sort of fun guy...









badoom-tish!

Miguel_Sanchez

dublindude wrote:

Apparently if you drink a gallon of water very quickly you will have a heart attack, due to the electrolytes (??) in your blood going out of sync?? (the electrolyte bit might be wrong, but it's something like that.)

I thought it was that you would actually drown yourself or some similar effect. I didn't think it was a heart attack. But yes - drinking a ****load of water in one go can kill you.

There was a girl, last year I think, who took a pill and then because she wa so worried about dehydration drank pint after pint of water in a club and died from the effects of that as opposed to anything to do with the ecstacy.

Goodshape

Jeff_Lebowski wrote:

(the age old 'thought he could fly' story).

So why didn't he take of from the ground?

He's a moron. He's dead. Gooooodd.

[/hicks]

Dave!

monkeyfudge wrote:

Oh is that what that is?

I didn't pay much attention to it but I thought it was an advert for an actual magazine... I was a bit offended at the fact that they thought they'd be targeting their key demographic in my local shopping centre.

Yeah I thought it was too, but it's actually an ad for drugsinfo.ie

Here's the picture, for anyone who cares, and there seems to be a few others on there too.

grrg.

Goodshape wrote:

So why didn't he take of from the ground?

He's a moron. He's dead. Gooooodd.

[/hicks]

good call

slipss

Just about the water thing if any1 is interested its not that you drowned or have a heart attack, its the oppisite of dehydration, there is a ballance in your body of water and salts if you drink too much water too quickly this balance is upset and your brain swells causing hemoraging(is that how you spell that?) Another point this is the second highest killer of people while on ecstacy after dehydration very few ppl actually die from taking ecstacy itsself.

rubadub

From a magic mushroom forum

A Halloween partygoer who had taken magic mushrooms leapt to his death convinced he could fly. The 33-year-old mans girlfriend watched in horror as he plunged 40ft from the balcony of a plush apartment. Last night there were calls for a ban on the magic mushrooms - bought LEGALLY at a herbal shop in Dublin. Witnesses at the party in Dun Laoighaire on Sunday night told how the man had started acting strangely. One guest said "He suddenly jumped up ran on to a balcony and flew straight into the air". Cops believe the man started hallucinating after eating the mushrooms. He jumped from the fourth story of a five-storey building. The witness added " These mushrooms are deadly. This young man began acting weirdly."
"The stuff he took has similar effect to LSD-its hallucinogenic. He obviously thought he could fly. He bought the mushrooms in a herbal shop and they ended up killing him." Gardai yesterday cordoned off the area at upmarket Anchorage Apartments in Clarence St. Dun Laoghaire. Detectives from the national drug unit fear Ireland could be swamped with magic mushrooms - which are banned in the UK. A legal loophole means the Dutch produced fungus is legal here. One top cop last night told the Sun "We could have an epidemic on our hands unless this problem is sorted out." Senior officer plan to hold emergency talks with Justice minister McDowell today to discuss closing the loophole.

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Post Extras:

Seuss
Error: divide by zero




Reged: 04/27/01
Posts: 7024
Loc: Caribbean Re: Magic mushroom man flies to his death [IRL] [Re: abrad84]
#4878778 - 11/01/05 04:33 PM Edit Reply Quote Quick Reply



> Last night there were calls for a ban on the magic mushrooms

Gee... why not educate people rather than banning a substance. If a ban is needed, it should be a ban on selling mushrooms to uneducated morons. (Anybody that puts a mind altering substance into their body without first researching the substance is a moron in my book!)

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Just another spore in the wind.

Post Extras:

Microcosmatrix
Plant manager



Reged: 10/21/05
Posts: 293
Re: Magic mushroom man flies to his death [IRL] [Re: Seuss]
#4878838 - 11/01/05 05:10 PM Edit Reply Quote Quick Reply



nevermind the hundreds of thousands of successful trips, but as soon as one psychotic individual releases his sickness with a psychedelic and offs himself in a blaze of psychedelic glory, all of a sudden it's the psychedelic's fault. Mushrooms aren't suicidal, people are.

Looks like garda Mc Mucksavage reckons there will be an epidemic of balcony hurdlers now....

There were some stats before about suicides, I think it was that 70%+ of people who commit suicide were drunk at the time, never hear them claim the booze made them think they could fly, be impervious to guns etc. I mentioned here before that a good way to commit suicide would be take drugs first, that way the parents wont think it was suicide but will believe the old "acid made him think he could fly" crap.

No mention of how many he took or what other drugs he was on. A standard dose in town is 15-20g which is very little.

And there is NO legal loophole, they are legal, end of story. The are not specifically mentioned in law by their latin name as being legal, neither are ****ake mushrooms, button mushrooms, carrots etc.

If that gutter press rag leads to them being banned it will be a sad day.

zinc

Terrible but of course, you can't blame shrooms for that one. Pity, shrooms needed a reason to be banned so the giv. could follow the UK, now this is teh perfect excuse. You can of course pick them anyway so who cares too much.

stevenmu

Personally, I blame the ground. People seem to overlook the fact that the number one ranked cause of death in falling, or falling related fatalities, is the ground itself.

I demand new legislation compelling the ground to maintain it's relative position with all mankind, or to only change it in a manner consistent with the safety of any persons who may otherwise be endangered by it's rapid approach, where allowable by the relevant laws of physics, whatever they may be at the relevant time.

Dave!

god that is ridiculous... they better not outlaw this, it will make me sick.

rubadub

zinc wrote:

You can of course pick them anyway so who cares too much.

Many will care because people can easily pick the wrong ones. I had some I was sure were correct and was told differently by several guys on mushroom identification pages. Even if they are the correct ones the dosage can vary a lot. Commercially grown ones are cultivated in sterile environments, free from pesticides, maggots, farmers with pitchforks
Commercial ones have a potency which does not vary too much, the doses sold in head shops are fairly mild. You will end up with people with the wrong or infected species, just like junkies who use contaminated heroin, and soapbar hash smokers smoking burning tar and camel crap

After the UK ban I think the gardai said there were no plans to implement a ban. Why should they? Lots of people die from overdoses and allergic reactions to paracetomol, no call for that to be banned. Psilocybin mushrooms are recognisable as a very cheap and safe treatment for people suffering from cluster headaches (where other treatments cost a fortune)

Press release July, 13th 2005

UN sees no reason to ban mushrooms.

On July 18 of this month Psilocybe mushrooms become illegal in the UK. The new law banning Psilocybe mushroom has been formulated to clarify the existing law. The existing law is a direct result of the UK signing the United Nations convention of psychotropic substances of 1971. The U.N. International Narcotics Control Board exists especially for clarification of and promoting compliance to the UN conventions on narcotics. The INCB has a tough policy on drugs and has recently condemned the downgrading of cannabis to class C in the UK and slapped the US for being soft on party
drugs. Still the International Narcotics Control Board sees no need to ban Psilocybe mushrooms. There is no loophole in the law; magic mushrooms are legal with reason.

In a Dutch court case of Dutch mushroom distributor De Sjamaan, earlier this year Dr.Lousberg, the vice-president of the INCB explained:

Low risks
In 2000, Coordination point Assessment and Monitoring new drugs(CAM) did a study on the risks of Psilocybe mushrooms. The CAM is part of the EU Early Warning Mechanism. It came to the conclusion that there is no need to ban Magic Mushrooms. The risks towards public health, criminality, public order, addiction and many other concerns are too low. The sales of magic mushrooms prevent people from going into the woods picking mushrooms and misidentification of magic mushrooms with toxic wild mushrooms. Dr. Lousberg was one of the experts working on the study.

Since then there has been no new data to conclude otherwise. In fact new research and data only confirmed the outcome of the study. Mushrooms are 100% legal.

The delegates of the United Nations did not find it necessary to put psilocin containing mushrooms on the list of controlled substances. Only substances placed on the list of controlled substances are controlled. For this reason, not only cocaine, but also coca leaves are listed. Psilocybin and Psilocin are listed, but not the mushrooms themselves. This has been done on purpose. Many naturally occurring plants contain controlled substances. If that would be a reason to ban mushrooms or plants, a large part of nature should be prohibited. Another reason not to ban naturally occurring plants, is that the UN
delegates concluded that banning naturally occurring plants is legally not feasible.

The concentration of psilocybin and psilocin in magic mushrooms is of course much lower than the pure substances. As the concentration goes down, so does the risk. The concentration of psilocybin and psilocin is too low, to pose enough risk to justify a ban. Since magic mushrooms are not controlled, neither are preparations of magic mushrooms. Only if one would separate the controlled substances from the mushrooms, an illegal preparation would be produced.

After consulting the United Nations on Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the
International Narcotics Control Board has made it clear in various letters that Magic mushrooms do not fall under international control.

International Narcotics Control Board meeting on Psilocybe mushrooms:

In the light of the testimonial of Dr. Lousberg in the court case and after recurrent questions on the legal status of Psilocybe mushrooms, the International Narcotics Control Board established an ad hoc working group to look into this matter. To re-evaluate the view of the INCB on Psilocybe mushrooms and suggest to the board; wording to use in future communications on this issue. The sessions took place from May 17 – 28, 2004. The working group discussed the matter in dept and concluded that the wording presently used by the secretariat of the INCB should remain as it is:

“At present, no plants (natural materials) are controlled under the 1971 convention of psychotropic substances. Consequently, preparations (e.g. decoctions) made of these plants, including Ayahuasca (and Psilocybe mushrooms), could be considered as not being under international control and therefore not subject to any of the articles of the 1971 convention.”
*Note of vice-president Lousberg
EU Free Trade treaty

The testimonial of the vice president of the INCB is essential in regards to the EU Free Trade treaty: This treaty, signed by the UK, forbids the UK to ban goods, which are legally produced in other EU countries. Most magic mushrooms are produced in the Netherlands. But the EU free trade treaty does not preclude prohibition justified on grounds of public health. The testimonial of Dr. Lousberg makes it impossible to claim with any credibility, that the mushroom ban is justified on grounds of protection of public health.

MarkR

I hear Sir Isaac Newton is being sought in reference to this crime. Seemingly it was his theory on gravity which allowed this to happen.

Dave!

chrismon

that man was obviously an idiot!
cant wait to hear what the tabloids have to say tomorow!
It was definatly "the Sun" it was in

Dave!

hmmm... I can't find anything about the story on their website

http://www.irishsun.com/

We sure this is a true story?

slipss

it was in the evening Herald aswell

FX Meister

Yeah DaveMcG, I saw it in the sun myself. From across the canteen table of course.

rubadub

DaveMcG wrote:

hmmm... I can't find anything about the story on their website

http://www.irishsun.com/

We sure this is a true story?

I dont think that is the actual gutter press suns irish website. I found it today too. If you type in thesun.ie it goes to the uk site.

Irish Sun
Newspapers the world over strive to provide readers with the ultimate news coverage.
The Irish Sun is no exception.

As an online news service we have advantages over traditional newspapers in that stories can be added and updated 24 hours day.

Our objective is to provide the most comprehensive Irish news available, from our resources, contracted wire services and an inventory of some thousands of sources comprising newspapers, cable and TV networks, radio stations, public broadcasters, NGOs and others.

Nightwish

One less idiot in the world, tbh.

Dave!

Aye, I did think it strange that it looked totally different

But I searched on that Sun website too and didn't find anything

I'll take yer words for it though, I'm sure I'll read about it tomorrow

Wertz

Never having bought them here (I prefered to pick my own back when I did take them), I'm not familiar with what controls are in place to stop younger people getting their hands on mushrooms...
Is it a case of it being that since they're not illegal as opposed to being legal, that the guy in the shop isn't under any remit to make sure that those he sells them to are over a certain age?
I know the likes of the places that sell them are usually run by sensible people that wouldn't be as stupid as to sell a few punnets to a 13 yr old, but then again there's plenty of unscrupulous dealers out there who quite happily pawn anything they can off to anyone of any age, once the money is waved in their face.

Back on topic; sorry for this guy and his family...but who's to say he wasn't suicidal long before the drug ever entered his system?
Whoever made the point about suicidal folk being drunk in a large number of cases makes a great point...but drink's okay...sure all the hacks head off down the pub at lunch time for a few jars with their dinners :rolleyes:

rubadub

Wertz wrote:

I'm not familiar with what controls are in place to stop younger people getting their hands on mushrooms...

None really, I was in one shop browsing and saw young lads being refused. Common sense would tell the owners not to sell to young lads, they would have the law or a crazed father onto them. They have been asked by the gardai to stop selling before. Last thing they would want is their (extremely lucrative) business under risk by selling to a couple of kids.
I heard the story on TV3 this morning, was sure it was some kid, but a 33 year old...

FX Meister

I guess in that guys case though, and as with a lot of people they think it must be ok to take mushrooms as you can buy them in a shop legally. They don't fully understand what they are doing when they take the drugs. .

Wertz

FX Meister wrote:

I guess in that guys case though, and as with a lot of people they think it must be ok to take mushrooms as you can buy them in a shop legally. They don't fully understand what they are doing when they take the drugs. .

...which is most likely why a ban will be imposed and shove the whole thing underground, when instead they (governement/legislators) should try and do it in a similiar way to booze or tobacco....
But that'd be too much trouble and make it look like they're condoning recreational drug use. Better to impose heavy fines and jail terms for posession or supply and stop "that type of thing" than try to educate potential users about the possible risks involved...I've never once done a drug that I hadn't done at least a little looking into about first. The legality didn't bother me (once I didn't get nabbed lol)
Play hard, but play safe...

FX Meister

I don't think it would go underground really. Maybe just revert back to the way it used to be. If you wanted to go tripping on mushrooms you had to make an effort to go and pick them. Maybe it's too easy now for someone to just walk into a shop and buy them without any thought to why they are buying them or what effect it will have on them. If things like this are more freely available then they are more likely to be abused by the masses.

Piste

More people are killed by drink driving than by doing stupid things under the effects of Magic Mushrooms but alcohol is still perfectly legal. The drug itself isn't that harmful, but it can lead to abnormal behaviour which can lead to death. If the man had been sensible he would have had a few good friends not under the influence of anything watching over him.

I've seen those 'stoner' and 'spliff' magazine covers. I found them very clever, they manage to pack a lot of information into a small space. Kudos to drugsinfo.com or whoever they are.

Jimi-Spandex

And natural selection works its magic once again.

Personally, I think it would be a good idea for the government to regulate the sale of shrooms but if the people who sell them do so responsibly and self regulate effectively they should be able to keep selling them and keep the cops off their back.

I'm thinking of such things as not selling them to minors and perhaps giving out leaflets with info on the effects of them to people who buy a punnet of shrooms, just so they know what they are letting themselves in for.

scojones

Cow sh!te will be banned next :rolleyes:

nlgbbbblth

slipss wrote:

it was in the evening Herald aswell

which doesn't come out in the evenings.

nlgbbbblth

stevenmu wrote:

Personally, I blame the ground. People seem to overlook the fact that the number one ranked cause of death in falling, or falling related fatalities, is the ground itself.

I demand new legislation compelling the ground to maintain it's relative position with all mankind, or to only change it in a manner consistent with the safety of any persons who may otherwise be endangered by it's rapid approach, where allowable by the relevant laws of physics, whatever they may be at the relevant time.

The ground has destroyed lives and families. Anyone who disagrees is basically supporting terrorism.

stevenmu

FX Meister wrote:

I guess in that guys case though, and as with a lot of people they think it must be ok to take mushrooms as you can buy them in a shop legally. They don't fully understand what they are doing when they take the drugs. .

Tbh, I doubt there's many 33 year olds out there who don't know what magic mushrooms are or what they do. We've all had years of drug 'education' shoved down our throats and it's done practically nothing. For example we all know how bad drinking and driving is, yet look how many people still do that. There's always going to be idiots who do stupid things that get them killed, all we can do is sit back and be gratefull that they've removed themselves from the gene pool, and that thankfully this time no one else was taken out too.

Dave!

Ahh I found it in the Herald, thanks folks

nesf

stevenmu wrote:

Personally, I blame the ground. People seem to overlook the fact that the number one ranked cause of death in falling, or falling related fatalities, is the ground itself.

I demand new legislation compelling the ground to maintain it's relative position with all mankind, or to only change it in a manner consistent with the safety of any persons who may otherwise be endangered by it's rapid approach, where allowable by the relevant laws of physics, whatever they may be at the relevant time.

The ground is innocent!! It was gravity I tell's ya...

SpAcEd OuT

maybe theres one less moron in the world now.

joejoem

wrote:

A Halloween partygoer who had taken magic mushrooms leapt to his death convinced he could fly. The 33-year-old mans girlfriend watched in horror as he plunged 40ft from the balcony of a plush apartment. Last night there were calls for a ban on the magic mushrooms - bought LEGALLY at a herbal shop in Dublin. Witnesses at the party in Dun Laoighaire on Sunday night told how the man had started acting strangely. One guest said "He suddenly jumped up ran on to a balcony and flew straight into the air". Cops believe the man started hallucinating after eating the mushrooms. He jumped from the fourth story of a five-storey building. The witness added " These mushrooms are deadly. This young man began acting weirdly."
"The stuff he took has similar effect to LSD-its hallucinogenic. He obviously thought he could fly. He bought the mushrooms in a herbal shop and they ended up killing him." Gardai yesterday cordoned off the area at upmarket Anchorage Apartments in Clarence St. Dun Laoghaire. Detectives from the national drug unit fear Ireland could be swamped with magic mushrooms - which are banned in the UK. A legal loophole means the Dutch produced fungus is legal here. One top cop last night told the Sun "We could have an epidemic on our hands unless this problem is sorted out." Senior officer plan to hold emergency talks with Justice minister McDowell today to discuss closing the loophole.

Wierd, I was possibly 200 meters away from this at the time, out of it on mushrooms also. Didnt do anything like that though. My hand looked and felt a bit funny and the walls kept moving.

The papers never mention that apart from those "evil pushers" in a certain "herbal shop" halucingenic mushrooms grow naturally in Ireland.

They are going to have some craic trying to ban them.

Look half my fecking field is illegal.

pdunno

OK, there's no doubt that this guy was obviously a bit of an idiot. But the other side of the coin is that if he hadn't taken the mushrooms he would never have attempted to 'fly' off the balcony.

I have seen some people get ****ed up on mushrooms (and other drugs for that matter) and I don't think there is any doubt that if they are not taken in some kind of moderation then they can be dangerous. It's how you set these limits which is important. Most people seem to know when to stop, however there will always be a few who don't recognise the boundaries.

rabbitinlights

Picture this, your in a party in a apartment you have never been in before, you take some shrooms and your sitting on the couch in a room full of people, they come on strong, a bit too strong for your liking, the panic starts to rise and your head is expanding past its normal size and you make a break for the door, except the door is not a door its a small balcony. Game over.

It could have easily happened like that. He may not have been an idiot, It could just have been an accident.

R.I.P

ianmc38

Guy in question must have been an idiot. i've done plenty of hallucinogenics in my time and have never once felt the urge to start flying.

Kernel

ianmc38 wrote:

Guy in question must have been an idiot. i've done plenty of hallucinogenics in my time and have never once felt the urge to start flying.

Different strokes for different folks. I know of a guy who ended up in a mental hospital because of a bad acid trip. The physiology of the brain is different from individual to individual, and many people in the mental health profession suspect there are links between drug taking and mental disorders like schizophrenia. It wouldn't be so much fun when that happens, now would it?

ferdi

I love the odd dose of shrooms every now and again but i've been predicting that magic mushrooms would be made illegal in ireland ever since these shops in dublin city started selling them. It had to happen. All it takes is for one fool to jump off a building while on mushrooms.

when people had to pick them for themselves or personally buy them over the internet, at least it meant that individual was proabaly quite informed and was prepared for the effects. Once clue-less people were able to walk off the street and munch down as much as they want without research, something like this was inevitable.

Of course we cant actually know that it was the mushrooms that caused this guy (33 years old FFs) to think he could fly. Personally I have never, nor have I ever read or heard of anyone thinking they could fly while on shrooms. with drink takenand/or other hard drugs i have heard of it.

The reactionary nature of irish politics, law system, press and society in general means that there will be a lot of people talking alot of **** on a topic none of them have a clue about.

This will be one more recreational drug that will be made illegal by people who are completely ignorant. Everything fun-enducing that is not Alcohol is squeezed out of this country. makes me sick.

edit: how can mcdowell seriously ban mushrooms when they MAY have contributed to one suicide when Alcohol remains legal and is clearly the DIRECT CAUSE of so many deaths and so much misery? seriously, WHAT THE ****????