Psychedelic Truffles: What Are They?

Did you know some species of magic mushrooms produce psychedelic truffles in order to store nutrients and withstand adverse weather conditions?

Truffles remain dormant underground and regrow the mushroom once conditions allow it — now that’s a superpower.

And, yes, besides storing nutrients, truffles also store psychedelic compounds so you can use them to microdose, trip, or for therapy.

Since they’re becoming widely available, we thought it was a great opportunity to educate you on them as an alternative to shrooms.

What Are Psychedelic Truffles?

Psychedelic truffles are also known as magic truffles, “philosopher’s stones,” Psilocybe truffles, and psilocybin truffles, among other names. And, no, they’re not even close to being the same as the truffles used in food.

Although they come from magic mushrooms, their appearance is nothing alike. Truffles have roughly the same shape as kefir grain but are caramel-brown or darker (even black sometimes) and hard.

What they do share with magic mushrooms is having the psychedelic compounds psilocybin and psilocin. So, yes, you can also trip with psychedelic truffles.

While any 10th grade biology student knows that mushrooms and plants are completely different from each other, we can draw parallels between the two to help you better understand what psychedelic truffles are.

While plants have roots, mushrooms have hyphae — fine white filaments that release enzymes to decompose and absorb the nutrients from surrounding organic matter. This is how mushrooms feed.

Hyphae form a network known as mycelium (plural mycelia) and when mycelia form a concentrated mass and harden, you get sclerotia.

Their job is to store food reserves to withstand extreme weather conditions, like wildfires. They stay dormant underground to then regrow the mushroom when the conditions are appropriate again.

Psychedelic truffles are sclerotia.

Keep in mind that not all mushrooms produce sclerotia, though. In nature, only three known species of psychedelic mushrooms have sclerotia but more were intentionally bred for commercial reasons.

Everything You Need to Know About Psychedelic Truffles

In this section, we’ll quickly summarize everything you need to know about using the so-called “philosopher’s stones.”

How to Use Psychedelic Truffles

Ideally, you should consume psychedelic truffles on an empty stomach and the smaller the pieces of truffle, the greater the psilocybin absorption is, so you should chew them thoroughly.

However, truffles’ earthy, somewhat bitter, and dirt-like flavor isn’t for everyone. You can use a truffle grinder to break them down into a powdery pulp.

After that, you have two options in terms of ingestion methods: you can wash them down quickly with water or add warm (not boiling!) water to them to make tea.

Especially because of some side effects we’ll mention below, make sure you stay hydrated while tripping!

And finally, we’ll give you a piece of advice from Lilli Steingraeber, the director of ProviThor and a pioneer microdosing entrepreneur:

Mixing microdosing [truffles] with alcohol is not a problem. Mixing a high dose [of truffles] with a lot of alcohol is not a good idea — just like with magic mushrooms!

Lilli Steingraeber

Psychedelic Truffles — Effects

Now, when it comes to effects, what can you expect from psychedelic truffles?

The effects start to show up in around 30 to 60 minutes and you’ll experience the peak over the first two hours. The trip normally lasts four to six hours.

You should only have psychedelics in the right setting and when you’re feeling good mentally and physically.

If that’s the case, you should expect an altered perception of reality, hallucinations, a greater feeling of connection with nature and the people around you, euphoria, uplifted mood, and lots of laughter!

Increased associativity and deep introspection or even a spiritual experience are also possible but, usually, it takes higher doses.

Some common side effects include dilated pupils, increased sweating and body temperature, nausea, needing to use the bathroom more often, and impaired short-term memory.

If you end up having a bad trip, anxiety and panic attacks are two possible side effects. Try to get distracted talking to a friend or listening to chill music, drink lots of water, and keep reminding yourself that the trip will be over in no time — you’ll be ok!

Psychedelic Truffles — Shelf Life

We’ve once again turned to the specialist — Lilli Steingraeber — for some insight into the shelf life of psychedelic truffles.

While dried truffles can last for at least three years, even without cooling, she shared that “fresh truffles need to be cooled and, depending on the duration of shipping and the temperature during shipping, the resulting shelf life may range from a few days to a few weeks — with an intact cooling chain about three months.”

Psilocybe Truffles vs. Psilocybin Truffles

Psilocybe truffles and psilocybin truffles are essentially the same — but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Psilocybin is a natural psychedelic compound produced by over 200 species of fungi. Psilocybin truffles contain this compound and have psychedelic effects when consumed.

Psilocybe is a biological genus that encompasses all species of gilled mushrooms containing the psychedelic compounds psilocybin, psilocin, baeocystin, and norbaeocystin.

So, Psilocybe truffles are sclerotia produced by these mushrooms and they’ll inevitably contain psilocybin even if only in trace amounts, making psilocybin truffles and Psilocybe truffles synonyms.

The Legal Status of Psychedelic Truffles

The legal status of psychedelic truffles is somewhat confusing.

In some countries and states, they consider any product containing psilocybin illegal, some make a distinction between truffles and mushrooms, some decriminalized, some allow spores and grow kits but not the truffles or shrooms themselves! As you can see, this gets confusing quite quickly, so let’s try to make sense of it all.

Are Psychedelic Truffles Legal in the United States?

At the federal level, psychedelic truffles are illegal.

Psilocybin became a Schedule I substance after the passing of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 and any product containing it, including psychedelic truffles, is illegal.

Are Psychedelic Truffles Legal in US States?

Psychedelic truffles aren’t legal in any US state but they were decriminalized in Oregon, Washington D.C., and at some smaller local levels.

It first started in 2018 when researchers from the Johns Hopkins University suggested psilocybin should be reclassified as a Schedule IV substance since it has potential medical use.

In November 2020, both the District of Columbia and Oregon decriminalized the possession and use of small amounts of psychedelic mushrooms and truffles.

California will likely follow a similar path with associations, such as the Decriminalize California, strongly pushing for state-wide legalization. It could come as soon as November 2022 when state elections take place.

For now, psilocybin products remain illegal in California. Only Oakland and Santa Cruz have decriminalized psychedelic truffles and other psilocybin-containing products.

The same happened in a few more municipalities. Denver, Colorado; Somerville and Cambridge, Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington; and Ann Arbor, Michigan have all decriminalized psilocybin.

And then there’s the case of Florida. They’ll likely take steps towards decriminalizing soon but because Psilocybe mushrooms spontaneously grow in the state there’s sort of a loophole in the legislation.

In Florida, it’s only considered a crime to harvest, possess, and use these mushrooms and truffles if criminal intent is proven — which can be difficult.

Finally, in New Mexico, you can grow psychedelic truffles and mushrooms and have them fresh but if you dry and store them, you may be charged with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

The Legality of Psychedelic Truffles (UK)

In the UK, much like in most of Europe, psychedelic truffles are illegal.

Psilocybin and psilocybin-containing products were scheduled as Class A drugs under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act. Class A is the equivalent to Schedule I in the US.

This means possessing, using, producing, and selling psychedelic truffles is a crime — the first two can lead to a maximum of seven years in jail and a fine while the latter two could land you a life sentence and unlimited fine (although it’s very unlikely a maximum penalty is given).

Psychedelic Truffles for Sale

Despite being illegal in many places, you can easily buy psychedelic truffles online. Normally, they’re produced and shipped from the Netherlands, where they’re fully legal.

Vendors make sure their packaging is discreet. It doesn’t come with the vendor logo or anything that would raise suspicion at all — only your name, address, and returning address.

Additionally, vendors offer plenty of payment options. Most don’t take credit cards but you can pay via direct bank transfer or hide behind the anonymity of cryptocurrencies — this is probably the best option. Bitcoin, BitCanna, Ethereum, and Dogecoin are some of the cryptos accepted.

Here are some of the most popular psychedelic truffle vendors:

• Mush Magic (Netherlands only)
• 24High (European Union (EU) only)
• Sirius (EU only)
• Dr. Paddo (EU only)
• Zamnesia (15 EU countries and the UK)
• MagicTruffles.com (Europe, US, Canada, and Turkey)
• Wholecelium (every country except ​Belarus, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, and Syria)
• Truffle Magic (seemingly worldwide — they only mention they ship within and outside of Europe)
• Cyber Shrooms (worldwide)
• ProviThor (worldwide)

Key Takeaways: What Are Psychedelic Truffles

Although psychedelic truffles have a lower amount of active compounds than mushrooms, if the dosage is adjusted accordingly, they have exactly the same effects and benefits as shrooms.

But because they’re fully legal in the Netherlands, you can likely access them online where you live.

Have you ever tried psychedelic truffles? How was your experience? If not, are you planning to order some from the vendors we recommended? Let us know in the comments.

Sources

1. Pellegrini, M., Rotolo, M., Marchei, E., Pacifini, R., Saggio, F., & Pichini, S. (2012). Magic truffles or Philosopher’s stones: A legal way to sell psilocybin? Drug Testing and Analysis, 182-185.
2. MagicTruffles.com — All You Need to Know About Magic Truffles (PDF)
3. DEA — Drug Fact Sheet: Psilocybin (PDF)
4. World Population Review — Mushroom Laws by State 2022
5. CNBC: Health and Science — Oregon becomes first state to legalize magic mushrooms as more states ease drug laws in ‘psychedelic renaissance’
6. NBC News: U.S. News — California moves closer to decriminalizing psychedelic drugs
7. VICE: Drugs — 10 Questions You Always Wanted to Ask a Psychedelic Lawyer
8. UK Government: Psychoactive Substances Bill — Factsheet: Overview of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (PDF)

Share Frshminds Content With Your Network