[Sca-cooks] Oregon mushrooms...

[Laura C. Minnick]

Here's a new culinary offering from Oregon!
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Chocolate-covered mushrooms seized

03/04/2003

By ABE ESTIMADA, kgw.com Staff

A box of chocolate-covered mushrooms worth up to $35,000 was seized during
a recent bust by Portland police, prompting authorities to issue fresh
warnings to the public about the illegal drugs.

Portland police were mum Tuesday about where and when exactly the drugs
were seized or how they’re being made.

The suspects manufacturing the psilocybin mushrooms dipped in chocolate
were preparing to ship them to the East Coast before the narcotics were
seized, said Sgt. Brian Schmautz, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau.

Police fear children may mistake the mushrooms, which are wrapped in
colored foil, for candy. Schmautz said that the chocolate-covered drugs are
only available on the streets, where they sell for $20 a hit.

“Anybody who would buy them would know what they are,” he said. “Our
concern is that children may encounter them accidentally.”

Psilocybin mushrooms are a controlled substance, and accidental consumption
of them can be extremely dangerous. While chocolate-covered mushrooms have
appeared in other cities, this is the first time they’ve been seen in the
Portland area.

Because they’re dipped in chocolate and wrapped in foil, the mushrooms are
probably being sold to young adults and teen-agers.

Authorities stumbled upon a box of the drugs during a bust in recent weeks.

“We’ve seen them several times in the Portland metro area,” Schmautz said.
“That shipment was destined to the East Coast. They were manufactured in
the area, and we see more and more of them. When you stumble on 30 to 35
pounds of them, the reality is there are many more pounds out there.”

The drugs are being shipped through common mail carriers such as Federal
Express and postal services, Schmautz said. Portland police are working
with the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Port of Portland and the Multnomah
County District Attorney’s Office to investigate and prosecute the case.

Evidence has already been forwarded to the district attorney’s office and
indictments will probably follow, Schmautz said.

Anyone with information about the ongoing distribution of psilocybin
mushrooms or any other controlled substance should call the Portland Police
Bureau’s Drugs and Vice Division at (503) 823-0246.


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