Start low, go slow.

Save these numbers.

• Emergency911Chest pain, a seizure, trouble breathing, someone who can’t be woken, or anyone at risk of hurting themselves or others.
• Ontario Poison Centre1-800-268-901724/7. Or 416-813-5900 in the Toronto area. Advice when someone may have taken too much, or something they shouldn’t have.
• 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline9-8-8Call or text, 24/7, in English and French. Free from anywhere in Canada.
• Distress Centres of Greater Toronto416-408-435724 hours a day. Someone to talk to when things feel like too much.
• Gerstein Crisis Centre416-929-520024 hours a day. Telephone crisis support.
• Toronto Community Crisis Service211Call 211 and ask for it. Free, in-person support for a mental-health crisis that isn’t an emergency. Not run by the police. Ages 16+.

Before you start

• Choose your setting. A calm, familiar place with nothing you have to do for the rest of the day. CAMH notes that the effects of hallucinogens depend on your mood, what you expect and where you are.
• Have a sober friend with you, especially the first time or at higher amounts.
• Start low, go slow. Use the smallest serving and wait the full 2 hours.
• Know what you’re taking. Strains and forms differ. Read the serving information every time.
• Plan to stay put. No driving, no swimming, no heights.
• Store it safely. Locked away from children and pets, in the original packaging, somewhere cool, dry and dark.

Serving sizes

Potency varies from batch to batch, and even between the cap and stem of one mushroom. Our potency ratings are our own, not lab results, so start at the low end.

• If it’s your first time, or a new strain or batch, stay at the light end. Weigh servings on a scale that reads to 0.01 g.
• Blue Meanie is Panaeolus cyanescens, a different species. Don’t assume a cubensis serving carries over; start at half your usual amount.
• Chocolate: each illustrated Shroomverse bar, or Naughty Bites box, contains 5 g of dried mushroom, a strong dose. Space Spores fronts are labelled 5,000 mg total, Summit Dark Chocolate is labelled 1,000 mg, and some other supplied fronts show no complete amount. The fronts do not identify ingredient or per-piece amounts. Do not treat any whole package as one serving; if the sealed package does not provide clear portion information, do not use it.
• Gummies: Space Spores fronts are labelled 5,000 mg total, while some other supplied fronts show no complete amount. The fronts do not show a per-gummy amount or gummy count. Do not treat the whole pouch as one serving; if the sealed package does not provide clear per-gummy information, do not use it.
• Capsules contain 50, 100 or 150 mg of dried mushroom each. Start with one 50 mg capsule on a day without driving or other responsibilities.

Timing

• Onset: usually 20–60 minutes; longer after food, and often longer with chocolate.
• Peak: about 1–2 hours in.
• Duration: about 4–6 hours, with after-effects for up to 8.

Don’t take more because you “don’t feel anything yet”. Wait the full 2 hours.

Don’t combine with

• Lithium. In an analysis of 62 online reports of people who combined lithium with a classic psychedelic, 47% described a seizure. If you take lithium, don’t take mushrooms.
• MAOIs, including some antidepressants and harmala brews such as ayahuasca. They can change the effects in ways that are hard to predict.
• Antidepressants (SSRIs, SNRIs and others). These can change or blunt effects. Never stop or change a prescribed medication without talking to your doctor.
• Alcohol, cannabis or other substances. Health Canada says mixing raises the risk of serious side effects.

Avoid psilocybin if you

• have, or have a close family history of, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, severe bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder
• have a heart condition or high blood pressure (psilocybin raises heart rate and blood pressure)
• are pregnant or breastfeeding
• are under 18

Never drive or operate machinery for the rest of the day. The Criminal Code prohibits driving while impaired by a drug to any degree, and having any detectable amount of psilocybin or psilocin in your system within two hours of driving.

If it gets difficult

Strong or frightening feelings usually pass. It can help to:

• move somewhere quiet and comfortable
• focus on slow breathing
• remind yourself it’s the substance and it will wear off
• have your sober friend stay with you

If you’re worried about someone’s physical safety, call 911.

Toronto’s drug checking service doesn’t test mushrooms

Toronto has a free, anonymous drug checking service, but its website says it doesn’t accept “organics – like cannabis, mushrooms”. So nobody in Toronto can check the strength of mushrooms for you. That’s one more reason to start small and give it time.

Health Canada also warns that people can eat poisonous mushrooms by mistaking them for magic mushrooms. Never eat a mushroom you’ve picked yourself unless an expert has identified it.

There’s no psychedelic support line for Canada yet

Fireside Project’s peer-support line serves only the United States for now. In Toronto, use the lines above: 9-8-8, the Distress Centres or the Gerstein Crisis Centre.

Keep reading.

• Questions, answered: the Shroomverse FAQ
• Psychedelic Toronto: a history
• Why a strain name can’t tell you how strong a mushroom is