• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Mum whose son died after suffering 'bad trip' while taking magic mushrooms calls for change in law

Home> News

Updated 17:30 11 Jun 2023 GMT+1Published 17:09 11 Jun 2023 GMT+1

Mum whose son died after suffering 'bad trip' while taking magic mushrooms calls for change in law

It's not illegal to buy and sell the spores in the UK, but it is illegal to grow them

Kit Roberts

Kit Roberts

The mother of a student who died after taking magic mushrooms has called for the law to be changed.

Laura Vesterinen-Maury was horrified when she found out that her son Antoine had passed away after drinking a tea made from the hallucinogenic mushrooms. She was then furious to discover that the means to grow the mushrooms can legally be bought and sold.

Antoine, 21, had been studying at Edinburgh University, and suffered a 'bad trip' in 2016 after drinking mushroom tea and went missing. Five weeks later he was found deceased in a Loch.

Advert

Antoine died after suffering 'bad trip' while taking magic mushrooms.
Police Scotland

The active ingredient in the mushrooms that produces hallucinogenic effects, called Psilocin, is a Class A drug.

While magic mushrooms are illegal in the UK, selling the microscopic spores is not currently against the law.

This is because the spores do not contain any psilocin. However, if you were to purchase the spores and then grow them into mushrooms, that would be breaking the law.

For Laura, this does not go far enough, and she has called for the law to be changed.

Advert

She told The Mirror: “I want to prevent another family going through what I’ve gone through - I want people to know how dangerous these drugs are. I can’t believe it’s legal.

“I know what can happen. People can become vulnerable when they take them and can lose control. That is the way my son died. The sellers of these spores are putting people in danger.

“To them it’s just a business. The government needs to change the law.”

Purchasing spores is not illegal, but growing them is (stock image).
Pixabay

So-called 'spore kits' are available to purchase online. It's not just hallucinogenic varieties which are available, there are also edible mushrooms which people can buy to grow at home.

Advert

In this form, the spores are legal to use, as they don't have the active component yet.

Harry Sumnall, professor in substance use at Liverpool John Moores University, said: “Spore kits don’t contain any fungus with these chemicals. This means that sale or possession of spore kits is not against the law.

“However, once people start to use the kit and grow magic mushrooms they are committing drug production and possession offences.”

In one kit purchased by an undercover reporter at The Mirror there was also a note which read: "Oh yeah - these spores are for microscopy [scientific study] only - any other use is naughty."

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “This Government’s approach is to prevent drug misuse and support people through treatment and recovery.”

Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Police Scotland

Topics: News, UK News, Drugs

Kit Roberts
Kit Roberts

Kit joined LADbible Group in 2023 as a community journalist. They previously worked for StokeonTrentLive, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Star.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

7 mins ago
an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • 7 mins ago

    Key information second black box from Air India crash will reveal as investigators find it

    Investigations are ongoing after the plane crashed into a medical college in Ahmedabad last week

    News
  • an hour ago

    ‘Hero’ Air India pilot ‘saved dozens of lives’ with last minute decision moments before crash with 242 people on board

    All but one on board the flight died as others were killed on the ground

    News
  • an hour ago

    Expert reveals how Iran could 'use secret agents to sabotage UK' following chilling threat

    Iran said it had launched some 100 missiles following Israel’s attack on its nuclear infrastructure which killed at least 224 people

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Son of mum who died in horror skydiving accident recalls chilling joke she made before her death

    Mum-of-four Belinda Taylor and her instructor died in a skydiving incident on Friday (13 June)

    News
  • Drug dealer made to pay £48,000 after taking picture with drugs and wads of cash
  • UK’s first ever legal drug taking room has been approved
  • Family Of Woman Who Died After Eating 'Cannabis Gummy' Will 'Never Come To Terms' With Her Death