Do Magic Mushrooms Show Up on a Drug Test?

Magic mushrooms are a nickname for psilocybin mushrooms, naturally occurring fungi that cause hallucinogenic effects. When these mushrooms are eaten or mixed into tea, they can cause distorted thinking, an altered sense of time, and auditory or visual hallucinations. These effects are caused by the psilocybin inside the mushrooms, which turns into psilocin in your body.

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, 8% of young adults reported abusing hallucinogens like psilocybin mushrooms in 2021.[1]

If you frequently abuse magic mushrooms, you might wonder whether they appear on a drug test. While shrooms will not show up on a standard drug test, there are specialized tests that people can use to screen for them.

What are the Effects of Magic Mushrooms?

Shrooms can be eaten fresh, cooked, or brewed into tea. The effects you experience will depend on the potency of the mushrooms and the dose you are taking. However, it is essential to note that no amount of shrooms is considered safe.

Eating magic mushrooms can cause a pleasurable experience for some and a scary one for others. If you have any mental health conditions, taking shrooms can worsen your symptoms and put you at risk of negative side effects.

The effects of magic mushrooms may include:[2]

• Euphoria and an overall sense of wellbeing
• Changes in consciousness, mood, thought, and perception
• Dilated pupils
• Visual and auditory hallucinations
• Stomach upset and nausea
• Vomiting
• Headaches
• Fast or irregular heartbeat
• Increased body temperature
• Fast breathing
• Facial flushes, sweating, and chills
• Panic or paranoia
• Psychosis
• Scary hallucinations or negative emotions

How Long Do Shrooms Stay in Your System?

There is no way to predict how long shrooms stay in your system because it varies from person to person. Certain factors like how much shrooms you took, the potency of the mushrooms, and your overall health can play a role in how long it takes your body to eliminate the substance.

Factors that affect how long magic mushrooms stay in your system include:

• How much you consume
• The species of mushroom
• How often you consume them
• How fast your metabolism is
• Age and weight
• Overall health
• Whether you have eaten or drank water

When you take shrooms, your gastrointestinal tract absorbs the psilocybin and converts it to psilocin within 10 to 30 minutes.[3] Psilocin is usually cleared from your system after 5 hours, however, the leftover psilocybin can take about 15 hours to be eliminated from your body.

While the length of time that magic mushrooms stay in your system is different for everyone, it is usually cleared from a person’s system by 24 hours after consuming the drug.

Do Psilocybin Mushrooms Show Up on Drug Tests?

Psilocybin mushrooms usually do not show up on standard drug tests. This will differ depending on the type of drug test being used, but more often than not specialized tests will need to be ordered to determine whether someone has psilocybin in their system.

Urine

Urine drug tests are the most common type of drug test. However, the standard 5-panel urine drug test does not look for psilocybin mushrooms.

5-panel urine drug tests can detect the following drugs:

• THC (marijuana)
• Cocaine
• Phencyclidine (PCP)
• Amphetamines
• Opioids

Even if you are taking an 8, 10, or 12-panel urine test, they will not detect magic mushrooms in your system. However, there are specialized urine drug tests that can determine whether you have used shrooms.

Blood

Blood tests are typically used in hospital settings after an individual has experienced a medical emergency. Because these tests indicate whether the presence of a specific drug is affecting a person’s health, they only have a short window of detection time. Unfortunately, shrooms are metabolized too quickly for blood tests to accurately determine whether someone was abusing psilocybin.

Saliva

Saliva drug tests look for metabolites that a drug has left behind in your mouth. They also have a short window of detection time, similar to blood tests, and shrooms are metabolized too quickly for saliva tests to detect them.

Hair

Lastly, hair tests can detect shrooms in your system for 90 days after you last abused them. However, hair drug tests are very expensive and not commonly used.

Find Help Today

If you or a loved one frequently misuse shrooms, it’s time to seek professional help. Using a hallucinogenic drug repeatedly can cause harm to your mental health, putting you at risk of conditions like substance-induced psychosis, but attending a drug rehab program will provide you with the tools and support you need to maintain long-term sobriety.

To get connected with an addiction treatment program, contact New Jersey Addiction Interventions today.

References:

1. The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA): Marijuana and hallucinogen use among young adults reached all time-high in 2021, Retrieved July 2023 From https://nida.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/2022/08/marijuana-and-hallucinogen-use-among-young-adults-reached-all-time-high-in-2021
2. The Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF): Psilocybin, Retrieved July 2023 From https://adf.org.au/drug-facts/psilocybin/
3. The National Library of Medicine: Metabolism of psilocybin and psilocin, Retrieved July 2023 From https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28074670/