Dutch Lawmakers Ban On ‘Magic Mushrooms’

Dutch authorities announced on Monday they were enacting a ban on the sale of fresh "magic mushrooms," but enforcement was delayed by problems over how to police it.

The Netherlands has begun tightening its famously tolerant policies on drug use, but shops in Amsterdam are continuing to sell the hallucinogenic fungi.

"I’ll sell them until they’re sold out. I still have a few and I think that by tomorrow I’ll be sold out," said Meile Schot, from the Innerspace shop in the city.

An Amsterdam Council spokesman said it was seeking details from the government about how to police the ban.

The spokesman said the city is not currently enforcing the ban at the moment, which does not mean it is not forbidden. It is still unknown when the ban would be put into practice.

Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen said the police and the public prosecution office had agreed not to enforce the ban at present.

Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool reported hectic trading over the weekend before the ban at magic mushroom-selling stores, known as "Smart Shops".

"There are records being broken in the sale and the use," said Hans van den Hurk from wholesaler Conscious in Aalmseer.

The new law would make the production or sale of fresh magic mushrooms illegal and could lead to a maximum jail sentence of four years. Selling dried magic mushrooms is already illegal, punishable by up to eight years.

Following the death of a French teenager who jumped from an Amsterdam bridge in 2007 after consuming mushrooms, the Dutch government proposed the ban on fresh magic mushrooms in April, citing the dangerous behavioral effects.

The ban’s challenge was rejected last Friday by a court in The Hague, allowing for it come into effect on Monday.