Smart shops are a big part of the problem. Their workers routinely tell young people that mushrooms will just "give you the giggles" like marijuana. I've heard this over and over again on numerous visits to Amsterdam. No doubt many young people take mushrooms thinking they're no big deal, and then are not prepared to handle them. Mushrooms are a serious drug. People need to know that before they take them, and then need to know all sorts of useful harm reduction info, like you should take it while you're inside, not while you're walking around on a highway or whatever. I'm not saying regulation is the answer, but I bet a few well-placed law suits would force the smart shops to change their fraudulent ways. They have an obligation to make sure their customers know what they're getting in to, or at least to tell them the truth when they ask.
cicero | 05.18.07 - 10:51 am | #

100% agree. I'm always surprised how this type of thing doesn't happen more.
Rob | Homepage | 05.18.07 - 11:08 am | #

I get yelled at every time I go by a store clerk telling me to mind my own business. But when they tell kids that it will "just make you giggle" someone has to speak up.
cicero | 05.18.07 - 1:31 pm | #