XPost: alt.drugs.mushrooms   
   From: cosmicaug@hotmail.com   
      
   Shaun aRe wrote:   
   > "Frederick Burroughs"  wrote in message   
   > news:12celo4q0ddhl6f@corp.supernews.com...   
   >> Shaun aRe wrote:   
   >>>  wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> I guess I worry about your sources. Please read Denis Benjamin's   
   >>>> Mushrooms: Poisons and Panaceas.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Here is a small quote:   
   >>>>   
   >>> >from pg. 141: "Collections of Amanita muscaria lacking appreciable   
   >>>> concentratins of ibotenic acid or muscimol have been described.(3)   
   >>>> People in a number of communities, especially in the southwestern   
   >>>> portion of Washington State, claim to have eten Amanita muscaria for   
   >>>> many years without any ill effects. Great variabion in toxicity is the   
   >>>> rule, although the factors influencing the concentration of any   
   >>>> particular toxin are entirely unknown."   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Perhaps one of the best resources for poisoning cases in the world in   
   >>>> the poisoning registrar of the North American Mycological Association   
   >>>> (NAMA). On page 155 of "Mushrooms: Poisons and Panaceas" Benjamin notes   
   >>>> that for the years 1984-87, 14 cases of Amanita muscaria poisoning were   
   >>>> reported. In defense of the mushroom, it should also be noted that NAMA   
   >>>> poisoning guidelines include mild fever (which could also indicate   
   >>>> immuno-activation), and hallucinations (which A.m. is noted for).   
   >>>   
   >>> Exactly - their definition of poisoning is wide beyond sense. I have   
   >>> still yet to be able to find any case of an A.m. death.   
   >>>   
   >>>   
   >> Do a combined search of "ibotenic acid" and "neurotoxic." Ibotenic acid is   
   >> a neurotoxin used to produce brain lesions in medical research. Granted,   
   >> most research involves injecting pure ibotenic acid directly into brain   
   >> structures, and does not model most forms of recreational use. Still, one   
   >> should exercise caution when ingesting a known neurotoxin. Are there   
   >> cumulative effects? Are toxic effects increased under some circumstances?   
   >> Are there a delayed neurological effects (degenerative brain diseases),   
   >> that may take years to develop?   
   >   
   > How long has this mushroom been used, recreationally and shamanically etc?   
      
            How many people have used it (I mean, not everyone is a   
   shaman)? Do we know what price they have had to pay? Would they have   
   been able to recognize neural injuries in the long term and correctly   
   attribute them to A. muscaria use*?   
      
   >   
   >   
   >   
   > Shaun aRe   
      
   August Pamplona   
   * Because they might just say "oh, him, he's an old shaman. That's why   
   he's weird".   
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