Tightening Loophole Allowing Magic Mushrooms

Mon Mar 18, 8:07 AM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan, known for some of the toughest drug laws in the industrialized world, is set to plug a legal loophole that has allowed hallucinogenic "magic" mushrooms to be sold without penalty, media said on Sunday.

Quoting health ministry sources, Kyodo news agency said Japan has decided to ban the sale and possession of all mushrooms with hallucinogenic elements.

No ministry comment, or further details, were immediately available.

Due to a bizarre legal twist, psilocybin -- the chemical that gives the fungi their "magic" properties -- is currently illegal, but the mushrooms themselves are not.

This has allowed vendors to hawk them from sidewalk stands, stores and the Internet. Magazines can also run advertisements for exotica such as Hawaiian toadstools without facing trouble.

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