Walk into nearly any headshop, and you’ll see a diverse and brightly-colored assortment of pills, liquids and gummies in neat rows behind the counter. To some, the products are mysterious; sketchy drugs of ambiguous origin. To others, the names and logos have distinct meaning.

Some packages contain QR codes leading to supposed lab test results, but data collected by the University of Virginia Health Medical Center indicates that these results can be manipulated, or list only what’s not in the product. 

With many of these products putting effort into concealing their ingredients, consumers may find themselves wondering what exactly they took. 

Some over-the-counter psychedelics may contain muscimol, a sedative compound found in Amanita muscaria mushrooms. Others contain cannabinoids or constituents of nonpsychedelic mushrooms, such as lion’s mane or reishi. Some of the most popular products contain psychedelic tryptamines, a class of hallucinogenic drugs including psilocybin — found in psychedelic mushrooms — and dimethyltryptamine.

The FDA has already issued a warning about “mushroom” branded products that obscure their contents. Occasionally, individual users send samples for laboratory testing. The high cost of such analysis — $100 – $150 per sample at drugsdata.org makes this rare.

“Designer drugs”, like the 4-ACO-DMT the California Department of Public Health found in smokeshop products last December, are intended to replicate the effects of a psychedelic mushroom experience. Some even become metabolized into psilocybin and provide a nearly identical experience.

My first encounter with one of these products occurred at a smoke shop in town. I had stopped to purchase an energy drink when I noticed a display of little white packets next to the register selling for $5 each. The label featured twisting blue mushrooms.

When I asked the cashier what the packets were, he said, “shrooms.” I questioned him on it, taken aback by the mushrooms I was familiar with presented in pill form.

“Kind of, it’s an analogue,” the cashier said.

An analogue is a drug with a chemical structure similar to that of a controlled substance, often with similar effects to its controlled relative.

Analogues of controlled substances are federally illegal to sell for human consumption. Internet vendors of these chemicals are frequently able to remain in a legal gray area by stating that the chemicals are not for human consumption, but instead for scientific research. These analogue drugs are informally referred to as research chemicals. The active ingredient of the “mushroom” product I saw in the shop, 4-HO-DET, could itself be considered a research chemical.

I inspected the little white package, front and back. It didn’t contain much information, just the contents of the pill filler and that the product was blue raspberry flavored.

The cashier didn’t know what ingredients went into it, so I checked the supplement facts panel on the back of the packaging.. Its active ingredient was listed as 4-hydroxy.

Truthfully, I was intrigued by this product. A psychedelic drug, most likely, was being sold over the counter for the price of a cheeseburger. I plugged the name of the product and “4-hydroxy” into a search engine. A result from the collaborative drug knowledge project, PsychonautWiki, seemed to indicate that the active ingredient was 4-hydroxy-n, n-diethyltryptamine or 4-HO-DET, also called ethocin. 

Ethocin is an analogue of psilocybin. Experience reports on Erowid, another communal repository of drug knowledge, seemed to suggest it had similar effects. Some users noted that it had more of an unpleasant anxious edge not present in psilocybin. 

The next time I found myself in that same smokeshop, the cashier had a new product to show me. It was called PLUR, after the raver slogan “peace, love, unity, respect” and contained an analogue of MDMA. This product’s packaging was more straightforward, listing the name of the active ingredient on the front of the package: “5-MAPB” and “Molly 2.0.”

“I rolled my ass off,” he told me.

Not just are psychedelics being sold over the counter, but empathogenic amphetamines? I wasn’t going to buy any, but I had never seen anything like it. 

Despite all the rave reviews, I was starting to get concerned about the safety of it. I am not a proponent of drug prohibition however, the manner in which these products were being sold didn’t seem ideal.

Empathogen drugs like ecstasy and 5-MAPB can be therapeutically useful in the right setting, but dangerous when used irresponsibly. Many common prescription medications conflict with the use of empathogens, notably antidepressants. This can cause a highly unpleasant and dangerous state of serotonin overabundance known as serotonin syndrome. 

I‘ve experienced serotonin syndrome as a result of a medication interaction. It’s quite an unpleasant experience, nauseous and confusing. There was a strong sense of physical unease. 

Psychedelic tryptamines are similarly dangerous if used irresponsibly. A dose of psychedelics in an unprepared person can be mentally traumatic. Some may find the change in their perception upsetting, uncomfortable or frightening.

Ideally, any drug should come with relevant information, such as possible interactions, side effects and warnings. The ingredients should be clearly stated and customers should be briefed on safe use, as would happen in a pharmacy or hospital.

Vendors should clearly label their product for its active ingredients and effects and avoid deliberately deceptive marketing practices. Retailers should know about  the products being sold  and what risks those products carry.

Customers should educate themselves on any substance before ingesting it  and avoid mystery products that don’t disclose their active ingredient. This is the minimum of what’s necessary in an age where highs are no longer limited to black markets and now include potent analogues with remarkably similar risks.

Kai Anderson can be reached at [email protected]