Posted by pinksharkmark (64.32.116.155) on September 02, 2001 at 13:33:30:
In Reply to: Thanks for the update - something for you to try posted by Flash on September 02, 2001 at 11:46:19:
In theory, the method Flash is describing would work. In real life it is difficult to be as precise as that when it comes to dosing with mushrooms as opposed to purified, isolated psilocybin.
My guess is that Sjoerd is using Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, since that is the kind that is universally available in the "paddo shops" in Holland. It actually doesn't matter what species they are, though, since all of the psilocybes exhibit the same trait: variability in potency.
The concentration of psilocybin and psilocin in these mushrooms varies considerably. Some of the factors are:
Wild-picked or home cultivated? The wild-picked tend to be less potent... but not ALWAYS.
Grown on what? Psilocybes grown on grain or manure tend to be more potent than those grown on brown rice flour or wheatstraw... but not ALWAYS.
Growing conditions? Those fruited at lower temperatures tend to be more potent... but not ALWAYS.
Age at which they are harvested? Those which are harvested before the cap has opened tend to be more potent than those whose cap has opened fully and begun to produce spores.
How long have they been stored? Psilocybin and, especially, psilocin, tend to break down over time. A mushroom that has been stored for a week is more potent than it will be after being stored for a year.
How carefully and completely was it dried? If heat was used during the drying process, the mushrooms will be less potent. If they have not been fully dried, they will be less potent.
What race and substrain is it? Psilocybe cubensis grows pretty much all over the tropics. The ones from Puerto Rico tend to be more potent than the ones from Columbia, for example. The ones from Thailand tend to be more potent than the ones from Texas. There are currently about twenty different "races" readily available to the home cultivator, of varying degrees of potency.
Even with all these factors tightly constrained -- for example a single home cultivator growing out cloned tissue samples of the same substrain of the same race on identical mixtures of grain or wheatstraw, under identical conditions of temperature and humidity, harvesting at the same stage of maturity -- a certain amount of variability of potency is STILL present from crop to crop. This variability is reduced to the minimum in such a circumstance, but still exists to a great enough degree to make it impossible to determine the MED (by weight) with any real degree of accuracy.
That is why I feel it is more beneficial to aim for a certain "trip level" rather than a particular weight. So far it seems that the minimum effective trip level is somewhere between a "level 1" and a "level 2".
I receive many, many e-mails asking for assistance in determining the proper weight for an initial dose. I do the best I can to recommend a range in grams, but I have received a report of one person having a solid "level 3" trip on just 2 grams (very unusual), and several reports of people being in the "two beer buzz" range (level 1) with as much as 3 grams. The AVERAGE weight needed to achieve a "level 1" or "level 2" experience seems to be about 1.5 grams, but I must stress that this is only the AVERAGE weight.
That is one reason why I am becoming more and more convinced that it is essential to have anough available to do at least two "back-to-back" doses, in case the first dose was too cautious.
pinky