Trade in products containing fly agaric may cost up to PLN 1 million in fines. They will be treated like drugs or legal highs. Online trade is booming, which is why the Chief Sanitary Inspector is responding.
Red by nature now blacklisted. – Any form of use of fly agaric is now illegal – says Dr. PaweÅ‚ Grzesiowski, Chief Sanitary Inspector.
For those who had no idea that the fly agaric can be used for anything at all – the Internet is full of offers, tips and recipes for dried mushrooms, infusions, ointments, creams and tinctures from the poisonous mushroom.
– There are announcements on social media – notes Maciej Krzak, senior specialist of the Forest Service of the BolesÅ‚awiec Forest District. – They are recommended for people with skin diseases, for example cellulite – describes prof. PaweÅ‚ Ramos, pharmaceutical analytics specialist from the Medical University of Silesia.
Whoever sold fly agaric for cellulite better stop. The Chief Sanitary Inspectorate has just banned the sale of everything containing this mushroom. – They will be trade, trade and sales prohibited. The Chief Sanitary Inspector will be able to impose a fine on an entity that would introduce such substances to the market, from PLN 20,000 to up to one million – informs Jakub GoÅ‚Ä…b, spokesman for the Ministry of Health.
They found two psychoactive substances
A special team of experts from the Ministry of Health and the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station tested the fly agaric and found two psychoactive substances in it. – The team unanimously decided to place these two ingredients on the list of banned substances – says Dr. PaweÅ‚ Grzesiowski.
These substances are harmful and act as hallucinogenic drugs, which is well known in toxicology departments. – There were patients who were agitated, without logical contact, restless, babbling, in a completely unrealistic state, without logical contact with reality – recalls Dr. Eryk Matuszkiewicz, a toxicologist from the Municipal Hospital. Franciszek Raszeja in PoznaÅ„.
And the reality is that toadstools are not for eating, drinking or spreading. – Our ancestors used this mushroom as a trap for flies: mucho mor, or death for flies – points out Maciej Krzak.
Contemporaries also have a lot to say about it. – There is absolutely no safe dose, even of fly agaric, because neither the European Union, nor Poland, nor the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the United States has approved any substance contained in it for sale as a medicine – he points out prof. Paul Ramos.
The ban will now be monitored by the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station. – We will try to remove them from the distribution channels that have been operating so far – informs the Chief Sanitary Inspector.
At the beginning of next year, substances from fly agaric will be added to the ministerial list. Then they will be treated as drugs or legal highs. – It will also be possible to conduct criminal proceedings as if drugs were introduced into circulation – explains Jakub GoÅ‚Ä…b. And for this, the toadstool dealer will face prison.
Main photo source: Fakty TVN