BIXBY -- Felony complaints have been filed against six people accused of possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms, according to authorities.
Nicknamed "shrooms," the psilocybin mushrooms are hallucinogens that create the same effect as LSD but on a lesser scale, Officer Erik Smoot said.
Ryan Patrick Jackson, 19, of Broken Arrow and Christopher Kyle Brown, 22, of Bixby were arrested on July 16 after police reportedly found the two bagging up about 8 pounds of the illegal mushrooms behind a business, Capt. James Kite said.
"This is a rare problem that we really haven't dealt with before," Smoot said. "I think word of mouth spreads quickly among drug traffickers and drug dealers, along with users, and that's probably why we've seen the arrests."
Jimmy Grammer, 18, of Bixby and three juveniles, ranging in age from 15 to 17, were taken into custody Friday in rural Bixby with a small amount of the mushrooms and a small amount of marijuana.
Police are trying to determine whether the mushrooms are being grown in the rural areas where the six were arrested, Kite said.
"Just like marijuana, this stuff can grow in the wild. It's hard to say if these people were trying to grow it or they simply came across it."
The six were booked into the Tulsa Jail on felony complaints of possession of a controlled dangerous substance. No charges have been filed.
According to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency office in Tulsa, the street value of the mushrooms was $38,784, Smoot said.
Psilocybin mushrooms are classified as a Schedule I drug, considered to be the most addictive and with no accepted medical value, he said.
"Usually, when we have a drug problem here, we get word of mouth from someone because its happening somewhere else," Smoot said. "We haven't heard about shrooms in forever."
Psilocybin is a hallucinogenic substance obtained from certain types of mushrooms that are indigenous to tropical and subtropical regions of the United States, Mexico and South America.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
