Ongoing US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) testing of a ‘microdose’ psychedelic candy linked to dozens of illnesses in 20 states has identified some of the product’s ingredients as potential causes of symptoms.
While none of the chemicals listed definitively solves the medical mystery, the results reflect the lax state of regulation of a market responding to a rapidly growing interest in psychedelics for health and recreation.
Earlier this month, the FDA in collaboration with the US Poison Centers announced its investigation into eight reported illnesses linked to the consumption of Diamond Shruumz brand microdosed chocolate bars.
As of this week, that number is 39, with symptoms ranging from abnormal heartbeats, hyper/hypotension, nausea and vomiting to seizures, confusion and even loss of consciousness. In 23 of the cases, the health concerns were serious enough to require hospitalization.
Multiple state authorities have issued statements asking retailers to refrain from selling or distributing Diamond Shruumz products, and residents who have any in their possession to keep them until the FDA issues instructions for their return or disposal. with responsability.
“Since people in many states have become ill with a variety of severe symptoms after eating these products, we are advising Granite Staters to avoid consuming them,” said New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services Director Iain Watt. .
“We will continue to monitor information from our federal partners regarding this ongoing investigation.”
Despite companies like Diamond Shruumz marketing their edibles as ‘microdosing’ candies, none of the claimed psychedelic active agents or other ingredients are offered to the consumer.
An FDA analysis of two individual samples was obtained to reveal Diamond Shruumz ‘Birthday Cake’ chocolate contains the ingredient 4-acetoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (4-acetoxy-DMT, also known as O-acetylpsilocin or psilacetin), while dark chocolate contains psilacet along with three compounds consistent with the botanical kava, desmethoxyangone, dihydrokavain and kavain.
Whether all similar products contain the same ingredients in the same concentrations is impossible to say without further testing.
Psilacetin is a semi-synthetic compound that, as ‘magic mushroomThe chemical psilocybin breaks down in the body to produce the psychoactive chemical psilocin. Because of this common pathway, psilacetin is a similarly effective (if potentially stronger) alternative with fewer side effects.
Without sufficient clinical research, little is known about the substance’s health effects, leaving open the question of whether this or other ingredients in the products may be responsible for the illnesses.
Detection of chemicals consistent with additives from kava (Pepper methysticum) has prompted the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue a statement warning of the potential clinical effects of ingesting the plant.
“Ingestion of kava may cause numbness of the mouth and skin, loss of coordination, dizziness, and sedation,” the CDC report states.
“Ingesting kava with other substances known to cause sedation, such as benzodiazepines or alcohol, may worsen sedation. Kava may also cause gastrointestinal effects such as nausea and vomiting.”
Clinical interest in psychoactive pharmaceuticals for therapeutic use has flourished in recent years, coinciding with a renewed increase in the recreational use of drugs such as LSD and magic mushrooms.
An estimated 8 million American adults took psilocybin last year, with one survey finding that more than one in ten have taken the drug at least once in their lifetime.
Worldwide, the unregulated production of psychoactive consumables is a growing issue. Since April this year, five people in the Australian state of New South Wales have been treated after ingesting the flesh of the ‘mushrooms’.
“We need to ensure the public understand the difference between these products and registered medicines prescribed by a health professional,” advises Sydney University psychologist Jack Wilson, a researcher at the Matilda Center for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use.
“Not just in terms of their efficacy, but their risk of harm.”