Kerala high court rules magic mushroom not a narcotic substance: Report

The high court was hearing the bail plea of a petitioner arrested in October for possession and transportation of charas, ganja and 226 gms of magic mushroom

Updated on: Jan 17, 2025, 22:38:47 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Kerala high court has said that “magic mushroom” is not a narcotic or psychotropic substance under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).

According to legal website Live Law, Justice PV Kunhikrishnan said,"I am in perfect agreement of the Karnataka high court and Madras high court. Mushroom or magic mushroom cannot be treated as a mixture. Therefore, Note 4 of the Table dealing with the small quantity and commercial quantity is not applicable as far as mushroom or magic mushroom is concerned."

HT cannot independently verify this information.

According to the report, the Kerala high court was hearing the bail plea of a petitioner who was arrested in October last year for “possession and transportation of charas, ganja and 226 grammes of Psilocybin contained magic mushroom” and 50 grammes of Psilocybin contained magic mushroom capsules.

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During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel submitted in court that charas and ganja seized from him were in small quantity. Also, the lawyer argued that Psilocybin contained in magic mushroom and magic mushroom capsules were not “separately quantified”.

The petitioner's counsel argued in the court that the average psilocybin content in psilocybe cubensis mushroom is just 1 per cent per gramme, the report added.

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The lawyer argued that Psilocybin contained in magic mushroom and magic mushroom capsules were not “separately quantified”. (AFP file)

What did court say?

According to the Live Law report, the court found that “charas” and “ganja” seized were in small quantities. It further said that as per the NDPS Act, the mushroom or magic mushroom is not a narcotic drug or psychotropic substance.

The court also added that mushroom is to be considered as a fungi and not a mixture, the report added. The court also stated that the quantity of Psilocybin content seized from mushroom and mushroom capsules were not “separately shown to determine whether the level of the Psilocybin was in possession of a commercial quantity of psilocybin.”

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