mycologists of supertopo

with a name like emetica, it's gotta help me get fit, right?

Perhaps now out taste testing jimson weed........

If it tastes bitter. Spit it out. If it taste good it is probably alright.

I think they all died, children too.

Eating a mushroom almost turned deadly for a Nipomo man
March 10, 2010 - newtimesslo.com

A local man is lucky to be alive after eating what turned out to be a toxic mushroom. In recent history, two people on the Central Coast have had this kind of mushroom poisoning. Last year, a man died in Santa Barbara. This time, a Nipomo man went through the same thing but survived. A clinical drug and the quick thinking of a local doctor saved his life.

The mushroom is referred to as "the death angel." Lee Sorenson is now recovering, but eating that poisonous mushroom almost took his life. Fortunately, he got the care he needed quick at Arroyo Grande Community Hospital. "They saved my life really. They saved my life," Sorenson said. He attributes his wellness to one physician in particular, Dr. Tammie Arnold.

Now both have found humor in the situation. Dr. Arnold bought Sorenson a cake in the shape of an edible mushroom. "I was trying to be somewhat creative and I wanted to reward him with a mushroom that he can eat," Arnold said.

Humor aside, Dr. Arnold had to work fast to get a trial drug to save Sorenson. "It was disheartening to me when he came in because I was presented with a person who was basically coming into the hospital to die and I'm a person who loves a challenge," Dr. Arnold said. She decided to try a trial drug from Europe that hasn't been approved to be used in the U.S by the Federal Drug Administration. "Early treatment will save their life. But delayed treatment could be fatal," Dr. Arnold added. Sorenson is only the sixth person in the United States to be given the trial that saved his life.

Sorenson plans to stay away from eating wild mushrooms. "I think I'll be slow to eat another one and it'll be one that I've bought from a grocery store," Sorenson said. Sorenson warns the public to be careful. There are about 100 poisonous mushrooms, of which 10 are deadly. Treatment has to take place immediately after eating a toxic mushroom. A patient usually only has about six days before it turns dangerous or possibly fatal.

We learned that most mushroom poisoning deaths in the United States occur among Southeast Asian immigrants from Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. They mistake the deadly but common “Death Cap” for an edible mushroom, nearly identical in appearance, that is commonly found in their home countries. Because the Death Cap does not exist in Southeast Asia, immigrants from that region eat the toxic fungus, unaware of the risk that they face.

Before California voters can vote on the measure, at least 365,880 signatures will be required to put it on the 2018 ballot.

Kevin Saunders, a mayoral candidate in Marina, Monterey County, submitted the measure. Psilocybin, Saunders told the LA Times, helped him quit heroin over a decade ago. He sees the initiative as a "natural progression" from the legalization of recreational marijuana use in November with the passage of Proposition 64.