Officers seize 20 pounds of magic mushrooms in 30 days at Canadian border

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Port of Buffalo seized over 20 pounds of psilocybin—the psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms—since the second week of September. The estimated street value of the chocolate-laden drugs—seized from 15 shipments—was $165,000.

CBP encountered the illegal shipments at the Peace Bridge cargo facility at the Canadian border. Most recently, on October 9, they found a shipment with seven pounds of psilocybin. Field tests of several bricks of chocolate were positive.

A CBP spokesperson said they had 68 psilocybin seizures from Oct. 1, 2023, through Oct. 1, 2024. That's roughly 37% more than the 43 seizures between Oct. 1, 2022, and Oct. 1, 2023. Check out the gallery below of images they sent of the October 9 seizure:

CBP said they're still investigating the recent smuggling operations. “All of our CBP employees work tirelessly each and every day to protect our country and communities from unregulated drugs that can become fatal to consumers,” said Area Port Director Gaetano Cordone.

The DEA agrees that the potential side effects of psilocybin—a Schedule I controlled substance found in some fungi that's illegal federally and in New York—include death. They also list nausea, vomiting, weakness, loss of coordination, panic, hallucinations, and serious psychological issues like confusion between reality and fantasy.

Users eat the mushrooms plain, put them on pizza or a sandwich, grind them up to pack into pills, or brew them as tea. Despite ongoing research into its potential for treating mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and addiction, using psilocybin still represents a severe legal risk. It's been listed under Schedule I since the U.S. Controlled Substances Act of 1970.

Everyone in Oregon and Colorado can legally use psilocybin, and it's decriminalized in Washington D.C., Minneapolis, San Francisco, Detroit, Seattle, and Portland, Maine. Several smaller California, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Washington state municipalities also decriminalized possession.

Since 2020, New York has introduced legislation to change laws concerning psilocybin specifically and psychedelics generally, though none have made it out of committee level in the legislature. Five proposals came out in the most recent legislative session.

A3581A/S3520A would let professional, licensed facilitators like psychologists provide psilocybin therapy to qualified patients. It amends public health and state finance law to explain certifications, fund grants, and protect medicinal users. The amendment also features rules for growing mushrooms and establishes an advisory board to oversee the program. The Department of Health (DOH) would manage the program and report on it regularly to state leaders.

A8349A/S7832A would create a pilot program for certified therapists to offer psilocybin therapy. They'd treat 10,000 veterans and first responders in Western New York and study their results. DOH would oversee the program.

A10375 would make cultivation and permit guidelines so adult New Yorkers can use psilocybin for specific health reasons. Here again, DOH would regulate the program, performing health screenings for permit holders and offering training courses on safety practices to providers. Those providers would need to be certified and undergo regular training, with a cap on costs to prioritize accessibility.

A3434/S2340 would make sweeping changes to decriminalize several controlled substances, including psilocybin, treating substance use disorder as a public health issue, not an individual crime. It removes criminal penalties for drug possession, makes possession a violation rather than a misdemeanor, clears arrest and conviction records, and creates a task force to recommend laws and policies.

A114 would legalize possessing "natural" drugs derived from plants or fungi—including psilocybin, DMT, mescaline, and ibogaine—delisting them as controlled substances and creating protections for users. It also lets adults share and cultivate these hallucinogenics for religious purposes. It would also prevent using such substances in child custody cases and employment or healthcare decisions.

And looking back at the 2021-2022 legislative session, A7928 would have created a Psychedelic Research Institute to study using hallucinogens like mushrooms to treat addiction, depression, PTSD, end-of-life anxiety, suicidal ideation, or similar, related conditions. Research and advisory councils would have guided the institute, which would have been required to report to state leaders.

Proponents of psilocybin use point out that dated, harsh penalties from the war on drugs have not reduced drug use while disproportionately affecting people of color. Legislators behind these proposals have said that changing the laws would save lives and reduce the incarceration of innocent people.

According to a July RAND report, roughly 12% of surveyed Americans have ever tried psilocybin. And around 3.1% of U.S. adults—8 million people—admitted to using it in 2023. Of those, almost are microdosing—taking small amounts—rather than "tripping." And a 2023 poll from the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics found that over 61% of those surveyed support "a regulated legal framework for therapeutic use" of psychedelics like magic mushrooms.

One study on trends in hallucinogen use from 2002 to 2019, collected data from over 1 million Americans aged 12 and up. It saw an increase in hallucinogen use among adults over 26 while use among adolescents dropped. Another study examined psilocybin use in the past year among American adults, noting an increase from 3.4% in 2018 to 6.6% in 2021. It said that males and white people were the likeliest groups to report using.