Psilocybin mushrooms are a biological genus composed of various types of hallucinogenic fungi. composed of various species of hallucinogenic mushrooms, which include more than 20 different species from the genera Psilocybe, Panaeolus, Inocybe, Pluteus, Gymnopilus, and Pholiotina. As their scientific names suggest, they contain the psychoactive component psilocybin and/or psilocin, which has a33> psychoactive effect on the consciousness of the user.
The consumption of hallucinogenic mushrooms for ritual purposes dates back to the time of the Aztecs and continues to this day. Psilocybin mushrooms are also used for recreational purposes due to their psychoactive properties. These types of mushrooms are also used in medicine (but not in Bulgaria) to treat cluster headaches, depression, anxiety in terminal cancer patients, and all other forms of anxiety.
Depending on the psychoactive substance content in the specific mushroom, as well as the amount of mushrooms consumed, the psychoactive effect varies. It can manifest itself through a state of euphoria or a feeling of calmness, spiritual awakening, a feeling of unreality of the surrounding environment, depersonalization, distorted thinking, dilated pupils, nausea, vomiting and yawning, impaired concentration, muscle weakness, lack of coordination, unusual bodily sensations, paranoia, confusion, and hallucinations.
Psilocybin and psilocin, contained in various types of hallucinogenic mushrooms, are narcotic substances of the hallucinogen type, and their use can lead to psychological dependence.
Hallucinogenic mushrooms and criminal liability
Use of hallucinogenic mushrooms
It is indisputable that the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms is neither a crime nor any kind of legal violation, as it is not prohibited by law. However, the psychoactive substances they contain—psilocybin and/or psilocin—are classified by law as narcotics. This characteristic is relevant to the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms and transportation offenses.
Firstly, Bulgarian legislation criminalises the simple act of driving a motor vehicle after using narcotic substances or their analogues. The punishment is imprisonment for one to three years, a fine of two hundred to one thousand leva, and deprivation of the guilty driver’s right to drive a motor vehicle for a certain period of time.
Secondly, the use of narcotic substances or their analogues results in a more severe punishment when it causes a traffic accident resulting in moderate or severe bodily injury or death to one or more persons. In such cases, the punishment may be up to twenty years’ imprisonment.
In this regard, it should be noted that driving after consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms is prohibited by law, and if the prohibition is violated, the driver should be held criminally liable. Another issue is that neither the tests used by the police nor the chemical-toxicological analyses of biological samples (blood and urine) detect psilocybin or psilocin.
Thus, it turns out that even if a driver has consumed hallucinogenic mushrooms and is therefore in a visibly inadequate state, the likelihood of him actually being held criminally liable is very small, even when, as a result of his condition, he has caused a traffic accident and caused bodily harm or death to another person. This is due to shortcomings in the capabilities of police tests and biological sample analyses.
Production/cultivation, processing, acquisition, possession, and distribution of hallucinogenic mushrooms
It is controversial in practice whether criminal liability should be imposed for the production, processing, acquisition, possession, and distribution of hallucinogenic mushrooms. The problem in answering this question stems from the fact that psilocybin and psilocin are classified by law as high-risk narcotic substances, the use of which in human and veterinary medicine is prohibited. These substances cannot exist in a free state.
At the same time, however, none of the types of hallucinogenic mushrooms in which they are found are classified as narcotic plants. Accordingly, psilocybin mushrooms, by their nature, are a material containing narcotic substances in non-therapeutic doses.
In this regard, it should be noted that when a person produces, processes, acquires, or possesses narcotic substances or their analogues for the purpose of distribution, or distributes such substances, they shall be held criminally liable. The punishment provided for by law is two to eight years’ imprisonment and a fine of five thousand to twelve thousand leva.
Given the nature and severity of the punishment, it is not possible to exempt the offender from criminal liability by imposing an administrative penalty.
A suspended sentence is permissible only if, when passing a guilty verdict, the court imposes a sentence of up to three years’ imprisonment and the perpetrator has not been convicted of another crime of a general nature punishable by imprisonment.
On the other hand, for acquiring and possessing narcotic substances or their analogues, the law provides for imprisonment of one to six years and a fine of two thousand to ten thousand leva. When the quantity of substances and their value are insignificant, the punishment is a fine of up to 1,000 leva.
As can be seen from this brief overview of criminal law, the law criminalises certain activities related to narcotic substances or their analogues, but not their preparations. A fundamental principle of criminal law is the legality of the crime, i.e. if the Criminal Code does not provide for the production, processing, acquisition, possession, and distribution of preparations of narcotic substances as a crime, then these actions do not constitute a crime.
Therefore and insofar as the various types hallucinogenic mushrooms constitute “preparations” of narcotic substances, their production, acquisition, possession and distribution are not criminal, but in the event of a16> charged with a crime shall be acquitted by a verdict of not guilty.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Silvia Petkova Sole Proprietorship Law Firm is a specialized criminal law firm with highly qualified criminal lawyers who have extensive experience in successfully representing clients charged with drug-related crimes.
Legal consultations by telephone or on site at the office are provided only a10> with a previously scheduled appointment.
For contact:
Working hours: from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
address: city. Sofia, street. “Tri ushi” No. 2, floor. 3
tel. +359 885 47 77 57
email: office@petkovalegal.com
OR