View Full Version : Ireland - Ireland: Speak out for the Shroom
Mr. Giraffe
02-02-2006, 12:18
[This is a long one. I hope you read it, but if you don’t have the time, please at least read the action suggestions and do something small today!]
Brothers, sisters, pets,
Have you been hearing what I’ve been hearing? The last couple of days, I’ve searched high and low for someone who thinks that magic mushrooms should have been banned. A 60-year old woman told me, unprompted, that most people who killed themselves did it while on alcohol. A 50 year old man thought that people could behave irrationally if they took too much of anything or combined drugs. A 30 year old woman suggested to me that we should ban cars given the high number of deaths on the road.
Even at this early stage, I believe we have majority support. You’d have to be pretty naďve to think that majority support alone could change government policy (see Iraq war), but there are 18 months until a general election to expose this ban as a sham and the politicians involved as ignorant, tabloid-chasing fools.
We can win the argument – the ‘reefer madness’ hysteria no longer really exists on the ground. It sells papers, of course, and it gives Joe Duffy something to frown upon, but people seem to be more clued in than Joe or the Sun give them credit for.
Does anyone believe it’s a coincidence that the ban became active at 2pm – just as Joe Duffy went on the air? Does anyone believe that the severe bias in selecting callers was anything other than a set-up? Both the Sun and Joe Duffy high-fived the government and patted themselves on the back when the ban came in.
The ‘controversy’ has been contrived and managed. The voice of the people has not been heard. It is now up to us to make this an issue for the next year and a half. We have nothing to lose – at the worst, we’ll end up where we stand today – criminalised by the cops and demonised by politicians and the media.
We can’t wait around for some organisation to spring up and lead us to victory. There are plenty of things we can be doing today to make an impact on an individual level.
For example, today I will ring Fine Gael and tell them that, as a prospective FG voter, I was completely put off them by the statements of Dr. Liam Twomey – their health spokesperson – on mushrooms, and that they have lost a lot of young people’s votes in my area.
Then I’ll ring the PDs and tell them that, as a free-market enthusiast, I was going to join the party until they decided to close down the free market in mushrooms.
Then I’ll ring Sinn Fein and tell them that, as a young republican, I was devastated by Aengus O’Snodaigh’s campaign to have mushrooms banned.
Anyone can spend two minutes on the phone pretending to be someone else. And everybody has a phone.
Suggestions for Action
There are three people to target in this.
Fine Gael health spokesman, Liam Twomey has been very vocal on this, saying that mushrooms are ‘dangerous and addictive’. Ring him and tell him they’re not.
Liam Twomey’s Dail office: (01) 6184299
Ring Fine Gael and tell them you’re not impressed with Twomey’s support for the ban.
Fine Gael HQ: 01-6198444
Ring Aengus O’Snodaigh and ask him whether he would campaign to ban alcohol if a drink-drive victims’ family approached him.
Aengus O’Snodaigh’s Dail office: (01) 6184084
Ring Sinn Fein and tell them they’ve lost a vote because of Aengus’ position on this.
Sinn Fein HQ: (01) 8726100/ (01) 8726932
Ring Mary Harney and ask her how she can ban mushrooms in a matter of hours, but can’t get a few poxy trollies for sick people in hospital.
Dept. of Health: (01) 635 4000
Call the PDs and tell them they’ve lost a vote over Harney’s ban.
PD HQ: 01 6794399
[The international code for Ireland is 00353, then drop the 0 at the start of the number. We need all the help we can get!]
Even if you only speak for two minutes and go, it really is worth doing, because for every call they get, they assume that 100 people feel the same and don’t call. I’ve met members of all parties who are opposed to this, so the message will be heard – and you could make a massive impact with a short phone call.
Ask the parties if they would support a ban on alcohol because of drink-driving. Ask them if they would support a ban on tobacco to tackle lung cancer.
It’s important to target the political parties at this point, because we need to build the opposition within the parties. Remember that we’re dealing with politicians here – they don’t know what they’re talking about, and we can make them very uneasy about this.
Please, people, pick up the phone.
I can only agree with you. The mushroom retailers and producers will take the ban to court. This can only have effect if there is unbiased or at least a good deal of positive information on shrooms information in the media. Judges, courts & the governments do feel the weight of media pressure. Without your imput in the media, all hope is lost. The media really is in controll here. Please write letters to the media. Can anyone post a list of newspapers, with addresses to send mail to?
Mr. Giraffe
02-02-2006, 13:13
Alfa, if you look at today's papers, you'll find pro-mushroom letters in the Metro, the Irish Independent, the Irish Times and Village, while the Irish Examiner carries a pro-cannabis letter.
Let's make some noise people!
Here are the emails for the papers...
Irish Examiner: letters@examiner.ie (letters@examiner.ie)
Irish Independent: letters@unison.independent.ie
Dublin Metro: mail@metroireland.ie (mail@metroireland.ie)
Village magazine: letters@villagemagazine.ie (http://by22fd.bay22.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/addresses?&curmbox=F000000001&a=19001a156b1c4c4884417cdc21b2349d8d229547f50b83d8 b8ce7bf5bb5936c9#)
Make sure to point out that the dead man ignored the instructions which were printed on the packaging that said not to mix with alcohol. Nobody seems to have mentioned this.
Mr. Giraffe
02-02-2006, 18:54
Dude, link doesn't work.
Checked out boards.ie earlier.
There's potential there - we need to get these people on their phones damnit!
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054884229
Seems they moved the thread this one works.
It may be worth our while trying to organise some kind of official demonstation, if we could get the numbers together and the media invilved it could really further our cause, we would no longer be invisible.
Mr. Giraffe
03-02-2006, 11:20
Abrad, a demo is being planned. I'll post info when it's arranged.
Ah good stuff, keep me informed. Nice to see this thread stickied.
Lunar Loops
10-02-2006, 21:11
Excellent news. I've been doing a bit of phoning around myself. Keep us informed.
Mr. Giraffe
13-02-2006, 12:20
Good to see you exploring the interweb, Shroomdude!
Lunar Loops
13-02-2006, 20:59
Good to see you exploring the interweb, Shroomdude!
Many thanks. Had to follow the link and see what was happening. Interesting forum.
Heres some stuff about the Psilocin ban from the web
On Forums
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054883032
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054883381
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054886157
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/5201525/page/0/fpart/all/vc/1
http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15365
http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15738 - sticky Thread
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=240262
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=239675
http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=149716
http://forums.lycaeum.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=8&t=001522
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ie-cannabis/messages
The Irish Times Poll 52% against ban
http://scripts.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/regularvote.cfm?pollid=2162
Blogs
http://www.irishblogs.ie/similar.php?p=28905
Knowledge + History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Psilocybe_semilanceata.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_cap_%28mushroom%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psylocibin
http://www.hermetic.com/bey/pw-irishsoma.html
Newspapers
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=36&si=1555798&issue_id=13638
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1555604&issue_id=13638
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,18004955-5001028,00.html
http://www.ourmedia.org/node/155970
From Sunday Independent 5th FEb.
Can magic mushrooms be made to disappear?
HOW many people, who are previous or potential users of magic mushrooms won't take them now that they have been banned?
Will the police begin patrolling shady fields all over the country, organising sting operations on the crowds of autumn walkers who are out hoarding?
Last week, Minister for Health Mary Harney outlawed the possession and supply of magic mushrooms, a fungus that grows naturally and in abundance all over the country.
The ban was precipitated by the death of a young man in his thirties, who jumped from the balcony of an apartment in Dun Laoghaire after taking mushrooms.
The case was certainly tragic, but also, it needs to be said, incidences of death which in some way involve consumption of magicmushrooms are incredibly rare.
It is almost physically impossible to overdose on mushrooms, and incidences of psychotic episodes which lead to death or serious injury are rare.
In fact an Irish health information website, Irishhealth.com claims that "the greatest danger is from accidentally ingesting mushrooms that are poisonous".
Magic mushrooms, the most common type of which is the Liberty Cap, are hallucinogenic, but there are certain other types of mushroom that, if eaten in error, can cause severe liver damage or even death.
Magic mushrooms are freely available to anyone who knows what to look for, and until recently, had also been available, for convenience sake one presumes, from outlets around the country.
Without the premiums that illegality imposes, they were cheap, and natural.
As opposed to all other recreational drugs, which are supplied by criminals, and mixed and cut with other chemicals and substances, consumers of magic mushrooms know exactly what they are ingesting.
Their widespread use, until now, has never lined the pockets of the criminal gangs in Dublin and beyond.
That magic mushrooms will continue to be sold on the black market in Ireland is a certainty. Thankfully, because they can be found so easily for free, they are unlikely to ever be abig money spinner for drug dealers.
Instead, the numbers of people who head off on seasonal pilgrimages from the city to Wicklow or Kildare or further afield, in search of fields with shade and sheep, (supposedly the best places to find them) will increase, and the danger of accidentally taking mushrooms that are actually poisonous will be increased. Regardless, the humble Liberty Cap continues to be laid out to dry on radiators and in hot presses all over the country.
Always the least seamy and most innocuous of the recreational drug family, magic mushrooms are arguably far less harmful to the individual and to society as a whole than either alcohol or cigarettes.
and finally Boo !
http://sinnfein.ie/news/detail/12850
Very interesting quote from one of the articles posted above
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=36&si=1555798&issue_id=13638
Speaking about the legislation change on Today FM's The Last Word, Minister Noel Ahern said: "The change in the law is to deal with the selling of these mushrooms. There is no change about those found in procession of the drug, unless it emerges that the quantities involved show a clear intent to sell, that's a different matter."
That would imply that you can legally order them from abroad, but the supplier would be liable to prosecution when he/she steps into Ire.
I suppose so, as long as you don't buy a quantity that they decide is "intent to sell".
Lunar Loops
17-02-2006, 19:56
"The change in the law is to deal with the selling of these mushrooms. There is no change about those found in procession of the drug, unless it emerges that the quantities involved show a clear intent to sell, that's a different matter."
I wouldn't hold any great store by that quote. There have been conflicting quotes coming out of the Government and as far as I am aware you WILL be liable to prosecution if you happen to be out gathering in the fields come autumn and the guards decide to take an interest in your stroll.
Mr. Giraffe
20-02-2006, 11:24
Shroomonger is correct.
Noel Ahern doesn't understand anything at all about drugs. Sure, he's the drug minister, but he genuinely doesn't know anything about the law or the substances 'controlled' under the law.
The ban clearly covers possession, no matter how small the amount. The only exemption is for mushrooms which are growing uncultivated, so as soon as you pick them, they become Schedule I drugs.
katukulysm
05-03-2006, 19:44
Shroomonger is correct.
Noel Ahern doesn't understand anything at all about drugs. Sure, he's the drug minister, but he genuinely doesn't know anything about the law or the substances 'controlled' under the law.
The ban clearly covers possession, no matter how small the amount. The only exemption is for mushrooms which are growing uncultivated, so as soon as you pick them, they become Schedule I drugs.
THANK YOU.
THANK YOU.
What are you talking about?:confused:
smartbee
17-04-2006, 11:01
Magic Mushrooms are banned all over the UK, and schedulled as a class A drug!!
You point being? This topic is about Ireland.
smartbee
18-04-2006, 10:55
Ireland is part of the UK, this was more as a warning, don''t make the mistake to think that they are legall in other parts of the UK. Sorry if i post wrong!
Ireland is NOT part of the UK.
Smartbee, you mean Northern Ireland. We are talking About the republic of Ireland.
Nature Boy
19-04-2006, 00:51
Just to sort out the technicalities:
Ireland is not part of the UK or Britain. Northern Ireland is a part of the UK but not Britain. The UK's full official name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Hey,
I was so pissed when I heard they were banning shrooms. I have taken shrooms loads. Both the one's I picked from the fields myself and the many I bought while I lived in Holland. It's made to think they can ban something that is basically wild and natural. I mean if they found out tomorrow that smoking a common weed, nettle, thistle would it soon become illegal to have these in your possesion.
I'm going to help as much as I can to get this ban looked at. I've been a pro-drug campaigner since I first started taking and learning from them. I wish they'd ban alcohal. That causes so much more grief.
And weither the ban is lifted or not come "Mad Season" i'll be picking all the shrooms I possibly can. Just so I can have enough stock to last my friends and I a few months into next year.
Peace
And taking a chance that the Gards don't do you for posseion of a Class A drug. I think it would be very risky to go picking, this year at least.
Yeah would be risky. But i know the right fields in the right areas. No garda for at least 20 miles and would only need to travel a few hundred metres back to somewhere safe.
Lunar Loops
28-04-2006, 12:57
Yeah would be risky. But i know the right fields in the right areas. No garda for at least 20 miles and would only need to travel a few hundred metres back to somewhere safe.
And of course, bearing in mind that this is SWIY (Soemeone Who Isn't You).
SWIM would be very wary of any well known locations this year but remote spots would probably be OK. Even when they were legal SWIM knows people who were stopped, searched and had mushrooms confiscated at a certain pub in the Dublin mountains.
Lunar Loops
28-04-2006, 13:09
SWIM would be very wary of any well known locations this year but remote spots would probably be OK. Even when they were legal SWIM knows people who were stopped, searched and had mushrooms confiscated at a certain pub in the Dublin mountains.
Not only that, but you are always then open to the line of "as we have found you picking these, we have reasonable grounds to suspect that you may have other drugs about your person". SWIM never had anything else about his person when a wandering the hillsides in autumn. Abrad84 is indeed correct, this year will be like no other and the days of carefree collection are gone. Now if needs must, it will be case of furtive foraging.
SWIM is now paranoid. But I guess SWIM will have to take the risk. Unless legal status is changed
Mr. Giraffe
09-05-2006, 12:10
Just to throw in my tuppence worth here - yes, people need to be cautious when picking shrooms, but it's not too likely the cops will be trawling the fields come shroom season.
If in doubt, deny you even know what they are, and pretend to be gathering pretty shrooms. For my money, there's not much they can do unless you admit to what you were doing.
Lunar Loops
09-05-2006, 14:17
Just to throw in my tuppence worth here - yes, people need to be cautious when picking shrooms, but it's not too likely the cops will be trawling the fields come shroom season.
If in doubt, deny you even know what they are, and pretend to be gathering pretty shrooms. For my money, there's not much they can do unless you admit to what you were doing.
Yes, I know what you are saying and I agree for the most part, but still better to err on the side of caution. SWIM's favourite sites were in the middle of nowhere, but still within visibility of roads and SWIM will not feel quite so safe this autumn.
Yes, the area SWIM goes to involves walking down a long country road for several miles to get home. SWIM has often been passed by Garda cars there, and he knows other SWIMs who have been searched and had mushrooms confiscated despite them being legal at the time.
StigmataLectron
09-05-2006, 15:14
Reading through this thread, I find it kind of funny that the new ban has only slightly phased everyone and made them more cautious - doing little if anything to all the Irish SWIY's use of mushrooms. I wish the Irish government could just dig it.
Nature Boy
09-05-2006, 17:22
SWIM's gonna buy a growkit soon. He estimates that his regular magic mushroom consumption will increase by several hundred percent. Way to prevent people from doing mushies government.
Mr. Giraffe
09-05-2006, 17:38
SWIM's gonna buy a growkit soon. He estimates that his regular magic mushroom consumption will increase by several hundred percent. Way to prevent people from doing mushies government.
Precisely.
No need to sprint from coppers across the green fields. Just get a grow kit. They're still selling them (ready to grow, so to speak) in the head shops. Furthermore, Customs have returned ready-to-go shroom growkits since the ban, so you're on solid legal ground there.
The cops have been harrasing shroom pickers for some time, as abrad says, prior to the ban. Let's face it, they just hate fun. :)
Customs have returned ready-to-go shroom growkits since the ban, so you're on solid legal ground there.
Please define ´ready to go growkits´. Do you mean with mycelium in them?
Mr. Giraffe
11-05-2006, 11:52
Please define ´ready to go growkits´. Do you mean with mycelium in them?
Yup. The just add water variety.
I know the Brits weren't too keen on stocking them because there *might* be traces of psilocybin in them, but a number of head shops are still stocking these kits, and Customs have continued to let them come through after the mushroom ban.
This could be a recipe for disaster. When the police realise that they are in fact illegal there could be prosecutions.
Dry mycellium does contain actives, the headshops should have just sold sterilized grain and syringes. Which headshops are doing this (no names obviously) but is it Dublin, Galway, Cork or elsewhere?
Nature Boy
12-05-2006, 00:12
To be honest I reckon the government are genuinely too thick to realise that dry mycelium is active. These are the same people that think mushrooms are highly addictive afterall.
Well then as long as our good friend Mrs. Kenny doesn't realiseand go on another on of her crusades, it's good to see.
Nature Boy
12-05-2006, 00:18
Don't worry, this isn't the sort of information the likes of Kenny would pick up on. Only pro-shroomers would be aware of this.
Mr. Giraffe
15-05-2006, 13:28
I agree with Liam; our enemies don't have the attention span or expertise to worry about such things.
Abrad, the only place I'm 100% sure they're being sold is in Cork (The shop selling them begins with a 'U', cluedo fans), but they're probably elsewhere too if they're getting away with it.
SWIM was in a headshop in Dublin over the weekend. The only growkits they are selling are pre-sterilized grain bags with syringes sold separately. The prices thay are charging are crazy though.
Mr. Giraffe
15-05-2006, 17:51
Yeah, most of the shops seem to be selling the components seperately, but as I said, Customs continue to let ready to go kits through.
Really, if you're going to grow yourself, it's best to get the stuff wholesale from the UK or Europe cos, as Abrad says, the prices are nuts!
Mr. Giraffe
18-05-2006, 18:07
Just to update people, I've been checking out the ready to go kits thing, and it seems they have stopped selling them. As I say, Customs seem to be unaware they may be illegal, but the shops aren't taking the risk anyways.
Mr. Giraffe
18-05-2006, 18:07
Just to update people, I've been checking out the ready to go kits thing, and it seems they have stopped selling them. As I say, Customs seem to be unaware they may be illegal, but the shops aren't taking the risk anyways.
Nature Boy
19-05-2006, 17:44
That shop in Cork beginning with a 'U' still sells the ready-to-grow kits as far as SWIM's aware.
Mr. Giraffe
23-05-2006, 13:01
Liam,
I contacted the owner of that stop, and she tells me they have stopped selling those kits and are now selling the medium and spores seperately.
Nature Boy
23-05-2006, 18:12
Drat! That could make SWIM's summer growing plans a lot more complicated.
Mr. Giraffe
24-05-2006, 11:50
It might be worth checking out whether you can get in ready to go kits from the Netherlands. I think at least some of those crazy Dutch folk are still shipping about the place.
I know that one Dutch based firm is still sending mushrooms to the UK and Ireland, but you pays your money and you takes your risk with that.
Hey, are you one of the guys from Galway Head Store? And if so, open earlier.
^^^I doubt it, and if there was it would be against the rules to say.
Damn, need to be able to get stuff earlier.
"Then I’ll ring Sinn Fein and tell them that, as a young republican, I was devastated by Aengus O’Snodaigh’s campaign to have mushrooms banned. "
You might also mention to them that shooting people dead for selling cannabis and kneecapping kids for smoking it are not good thing to be doing either (unless, as a young republican, you think they are good ideas).
Nature Boy
21-12-2006, 00:47
A thread posted today got me thinking. What is the official law in Ireland in regards to the banning of magic mushrooms and/or psilocybin/psilocin? Psilocybe Tampanensis (Philosopher's Stones) are not technically mushrooms, they are truffles. Is there any possibility that under the new law created last year that they could still be legal via some loophole? I doubt it's likely but I would like to know all the same.
Nice thought but it looks like they are definetely included.
In paragraph 1(a) of Schedule 1, after "Psilocin" there shall be
inserted "any substance, product or preparation (whether natural or
otherwise) including a fungus of any kind or description, which
contains Psilocin or an ester of Psilocin
Nature Boy
21-12-2006, 17:29
Just psilocin? Not psilocybin? I know it's nit-picking but it's better than nothing.
Psilocybin is an ester of psilocin, so it is included.
Shit, when I read that I was happy for about three seconds. Abrad you ruined my Christmas!
MadShroomer
26-12-2006, 02:47
Northern Ireland is but southern isn't... here look at this map:http://www.lastminute-hotel.co.uk/images/uk_map.gif
see how that little part of northern ireland is colored and considered part of the "UK".
Also, SWIM believes that the Fresh Mushroom ban sucks ass! SWIM now has to make his own substrates and wait WEEKS before harvesting (instead of 5-7 days when ordering kits) SWIM lives in the United States but had 2 sources in the UK that were willing to go "under the radar" and ship to SWIM :)
^^They are illegal in the Republic of Ireland as well as N. Ireland and the UK.
Storming Heaven
19-01-2007, 10:12
They will remain illegal too, The best legal minds in the land have looked at this issue and there is actually a couple of holes in the way the GOV have written the statutory instrument and there is a strong argument that suggest barmy harney exceded her powers so in effect the law can be changed. however the set up is such that within days of the ban being overturned it would be re-set by the goverments lawyers so whats the point? Its too expensive just to cause a little embarrasment as with most things to do with that bunch of self serving assholes its simply a competition to see who has the most money...and guess who does?...fuckers. So not to piss on anyones bonfire but mushies are a thing of the past for over the counter sales.
It is just too contentious an issue for anybody to be bothered with!