Authorities have issued a warning after “magic mushrooms” were found growing at a popular pasture in Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山), saying the fungi are classified as a “Category 2” illegal drug.
Taipei’s Seventh Special Police Corps (保七總隊), in charge of public safety at Yangmingshan park, said they were alarmed at the discovery of “magic mushrooms” and have beefed up patrols in the park, which is frequented daily by city residents, hikers and tourists.
“We are paying close attention to this case and a team was dispatched this morning to collect the mushrooms. They will be sent for lab analysis,” said Wang Chi-cheng (王志成), head of the criminal investigation unit at the Seventh Special Police Corps.
Photo provided by the Criminal Investigation Bureau
“Before making a proper identification, we have reinforced patrols throughout all areas of Yangmingshan,” Wang told reporters.
The beefed-up patrols are needed because authorities have become aware of reports of the mushrooms creating a buzz both online and off the Web, mostly due to unfamiliarity and curiosity about this particular wild fungus with hallucinatory and psychedelic properties, Wang said.
According to a Chinese-language Apple Daily report on Monday, a man from Taipei surnamed Huang (黃) last month went to park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗), a scenic mountain pasture still used by local farmers to graze cattle.
Huang said he found wild mushrooms, mostly white in color, growing on the cow dung. Thinking they were edible, the 24-year-old picked a bunch and took them home. He made a vegetable stir-fry with the mushrooms and consumed the dish.
Huang recalled that he began to experience something unusual.
“I felt light, like my body was floating in midair. I saw strange things and space seemed distorted. I also had this uncontrollable drooling,” he said, according to the newspaper report.
After coming down from the hallucinatory trip, which lasted about two hours, Huang was frightened and told a friend about the experience, who was certain Huang had eaten “magic mushrooms.”
According to experts, Huang had eaten psilocybin mushrooms, which contain the active ingredients psilocybin and psilocin.
Chen Chi-chen (陳啟禎), a biology professor at Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, said some indigenous people of central America used psilocybin mushrooms to induce psychedelic experiences during traditional ceremonies and religious rituals.
“In this case, the mushroom spores were eaten by cattle and expelled in their feces. When suitable temperature and humidity conditions were met, they sprouted on the dung and grew into mature mushrooms,” Chen said.
“They can also grow on other cool and wet mountain slopes around Taiwan, not just on Yangmingshan,” he added.
On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration issued a statement warning the public not to pick any wild mushrooms found in mountainous areas and not to eat them.
“Psilocybin mushrooms affect the central nervous system, lead to muscle weakness, and may cause convulsions and lead to death in serious cases,” the administration said.
The statement stressed that psilocybin mushrooms are illegal in Taiwan, as they are considered a “Category 2” drug, alongside marijuana and amphetamine.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS