Products containing muscimol from fly agaric mushrooms have become increasingly popular and are often sold as natural medicine. Now the Swedish Public Health Agency (Folkhälsomyndigheten) wants the government to stop the trade by classifying the substance as narcotics.

The fly agaric has long been regarded as a symbol of poisonous mushrooms, but it is not quite as toxic as the destroying angel (Amanita virosa) – which is deadly. Historically, the fly agaric is said to have been used by Siberian shamans, among others, to alter their state of consciousness in order to establish contact with the spirit world in rituals.

In Sweden during the 1800s, people hardly ate any mushrooms at all, but the fly agaric was still considered useful as it was used as an insecticide against flies, from which it also got its name. When food became scarce for Swedes, authorities tried to encourage more mushroom consumption, which briefly led to a group of mushroom enthusiasts claiming that the fly agaric was edible, something that Populär Historia has written about. During the 1970s, the mushroom began to acquire its bad reputation after new knowledge about mushroom species began to take shape.

Poses a risk

Muscimol is a psychoactive substance that can produce sedative and hallucinogenic effects, and today the substance is often promoted by so-called alternative health groups as a remedy for sleep disorders, among other things. So-called retreats are even organized where participants ingest the mushroom in ceremonial settings.

Now the Swedish Public Health Agency wants to classify the substance as narcotics. According to the agency, the substance is currently available for purchase as candy and in e-cigarettes through various online stores, and they emphasize that the mushroom is poisonous and that people are exposing themselves to risk. In addition to relatively common symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, and hallucinations, there are reports of people falling into comas after taking the preparation.

— It has properties that pose a danger to people's lives and health and which can be assumed to be used for the purpose of achieving intoxication, said Adli Assali, head of unit at the Swedish Public Health Agency, to P3 Nyheter.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned trade in muscimol at the end of last year. This summer, the Swedish Public Health Agency initiated its own investigation following a request from the Swedish Customs Service (Tullverket), which had seized the substance at border controls. The Swedish government will now decide whether the substance should be classified as narcotics in Sweden.