We're pretty sure these mushrooms weren't portobellos.
A report in the police blotter of a local Colorado newspaper describes how a girl thought she was being chased by giraffes after eating mushrooms she bought from a stranger.
The following text appeared in Steamboat Today, a local paper covering Steamboat Springs, Colo., on April 19:
10:05pm: Police received a call from a woman who said her juvenile granddaughter was at the ski area last week and ran into a person who was selling bags of what she thought were portobello mushrooms dipped in chocolate for $30. Police said the granddaughter further informed her grandmother that giraffes were chasing her down the hill after she ate the mushrooms. [Emphasis added.]
What happened next is unclear; the Steamboat Springs Police Department did not return a request for comment from The Huffington Post.
Also unclear: why anyone would pay $30 for portobello mushrooms.
While the consumption of psychedelic mushrooms, also known as magic mushrooms or "shrooms," can be dangerous (they've been linked to suicides), researchers have found the mushrooms aren't without possible benefits.
A recent study by scientists at Imperial College London found that the psychedelic compound in shrooms, psilocybin, can help ease depression by reducing the activity of certain parts of the brain that are overactive in individuals with the illness. A 2011 study by Johns Hopkins School of Medicine had similar findings, Time reported.
Nevertheless, possession of psychedelic mushrooms is illegal in the United States. The Drug Enforcement Agency classifies psilocybin as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. Heroin, LSD, ecstasy and marijuana are also classified in that category.
(h/t Dangerous Minds)
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