Deadly magic mushrooms still sold legally in Ireland.

In 2006, Minster for Health Mary Harney banned the sale and possession of magic mushrooms containing psilocybin following the tragic death of a 33-year-old Dublin man who jumped from a balcony while hallucinating.

However, this ban did not extend to amanita 'magic' mushrooms, which contain toxic properties and are much more hallucinogenic than the mushroom banned by Harney.

An inquest into the 2007 death of Brian Collins (24), Hopkins Road, Castlebar, Co Mayo, found that he died from liver failure due an acute toxic reaction to amatoxin.

Amatoxins are found in amanita mushrooms. The Department of Health confirmed that amanita mushrooms are still not a scheduled substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

The department has previously acknowledged that the toxic element in some species of Amanita could lead to death. The hallucinogenic fungi are still for sale in several alternative lifestyle shops all over the county.

Chris Murphy, director of Crosscare's drug and alcohol programme in Dublin, said he had "concerns" about the on-going availability of magic mushrooms in Irish stores. "These ones haven't been banned specifically because the government hasn't got around to it yet. It's not just about banning more drugs. People selling mushrooms and other legal highs in these stores should only be allowed sell products that have been deemed safe."

Collins, who was quadriplegic after an accident in 2005, was rushed to Mayo General Hospital in the early hours of 13 October 2007 and died five days later, Dublin City Coroner's court heard on Friday. His care assistant contacted the emergency services when the young man called her to say he was feeling unwell and began to drift in and out of consciousness.

Coroner Dr Brian Farrell recorded the cause of death as liver failure due to acute amatoxin toxicity and a verdict of death by misadventure. Collins is the only known person to have died in Ireland as a direct medical consequence of eating magic mushrooms.

Mary Harney banned magic mushrooms containing psilocybin after meeting Eoin and Mary Hodkinson, whose son Colm died in 2005 after he jumped from a balcony in Dun Laoghaire, south Dublin. He had suffered an adverse hallucinogenic reaction after eating mushrooms.

Source: Ali Bracken, 14/06/2009, The Irish Examiner