The country’s sanitary watchdog said it will begin its probe into the extremely toxic Amanita muscaria mushrooms which have been labelled a new designer drug.
Poland is seeing a rise in the sale of dried mushrooms, also known as toadstool, which have psychoactive effects and are being sold online for 1,000 zlotys (€232) per kilogram.
Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski, head of Poland’s Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS), told Polish news website o2.pl that the mushrooms “can cause hallucinations and, in larger amounts, even cardiac arrest.”
He added: “Sales of these mushrooms should be treated like new designer drugs.”
Sellers claim the mushrooms are mainly used for ointments, but some admit customers ingest them for their psychoactive properties.
One seller told o2.pl, “People make powder from dried mushrooms and consume it. In larger amounts, it causes hallucinations.”
GIS said it may consider banning the mushrooms as a psychoactive substance, but admits that the process could take three to six months.
Meanwhile, Marcin Mól, head of Molpharma, a company selling toadstool-based products, says his firm is researching the mushroom’s effects on neurological diseases.
The company offers products such as “ointments with Amanita muscaria extract,” aimed at “athletes, active individuals, and the elderly.”
However, GIS has said that no Amanita products have been registered for medicinal use in Poland.
Grzesiowski said: “If these products claim therapeutic effects, they must undergo proper testing and registration.”
