CHATFIELD, Minn. – Police busted a factory for raising and converting mushrooms into a psychedelic drug. The raid was at a house a block behind a Kwik Trip convenience store and four blocks from the Chatfield High School – 20 miles down U.S. Highway 52 from Rochester, the region’s largest drug market. Arrested were Austin Dahl and Kailyn Felker, both 23. Agents seized mushrooms in various stages of growth, as well as five pounds of dried and processed mushrooms in two garbage bags. Sheriff’s spokesperson James Schueller called the bust the largest of its kind in recent memory. Schueller said the bust was preceded by an undercover purchase of four ounces for $600 from higher-ups in a major distribution network. The product seized in the raid had a street value of $12,000 to $15,000, he said. There has been a recent uptick in mushroom and other psychedelic substance sales in the Rochester area, Schueller said. The social media site Snapshot has been a major marketing ting tool, he said.
The Chatfield “farm.” The duplex neighborhood in the 200 block of Mill Creek Road Northwest. Image: Steve Lunde
Dahl.
Felker.
The mushroom “trip”
Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly called magic mushrooms or shrooms, are ingested in dry form. Indigenous New World cultures used them to intensify spiritual experiences. The effect comes from psilocybin and psilocin,, which is broken down by the liver into a called psiloci, which creates mind-bending effects within 20 minutes or so. The “trip” lasts three to eight hours, peaking usually after four hours. Research has not identified physical or psychological dependence. However, there can be nausea, vomiting, euphoria, muscle weakness or relaxation, drowsiness, and loss of coordination. Is fatal overdosing possible? Not in itself. The more you ingest, the lesser the effect. The danger is in the user’s activities while experiencing vivid visuals and distortions in reality. There are enhanced and contrasting of colors, halos around light sources that seem to ripple, shimmer or breathe. Objects can appear to warp and morph. Music can take on a profound cadence and depth.
Decriminalization. Oregon became the first state to decriminalize magic mushrooms in 2020. New Jersey followed. These cities have decriminalized magic mushrooms or made them a low policing priority: Denver, Santa Cruz, Washington.