When Were Magic Mushrooms Found?

Magic mushrooms, also known as “magic mushrooms” or “shrooms”, have a long history dating back thousands of years. The term “magic mushrooms” was introduced in 1957 in a Life Magazine exposé. Psilocybin mushrooms were researched from the 1950s to the 1970s by prominent academics, including Harvard University’s Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (later Ram Dass). American scientists began studying “shrooms” in the late 1950s, with Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann being the first person to extract the psychoactive compounds found in nearly all species of Psilocybe.

The first evidence of magic mushroom use dates back to 10,000 BCE, with cave paintings in Australia suggesting that mushroom-induced trances were part of indigenous culture there. In 1956, Roger Heim identified the psychoactive mushroom the Wassons brought back from Mexico as Psilocybe, and in 1958, Albert Hofmann first identified psilocybin and psilocin as the active compounds in these mushrooms. Psilocybin and psilocin, the psychoactive compounds found in nearly all species of Psilocybe, have shown promise as a treatment for conditions.

Psilocybin is a chemical obtained from certain types of fresh or dried mushrooms. The first documented recreational use of psilocybin mushrooms growing outside Mexico occurred in Vancouver in 1965. In 1965, the RCMP confiscated Psilocybe semilanceata, but it has since been discovered that only one of the nearly 200 species of psychedelic mushrooms, Psilocybe semilanceata, grows in any country.