A very bad mistake indeed, one that resulted in an outbreak of poisonings, traceable to a popular psychoactive edible. In this case, it’s a product that advertises itself as containing a microdose of a substance derived from psychotropic mushrooms.

Brand name: Diamond Shruumz.

The true origins of the problem lie in the explosion in growth of a commercial industry based on making and marketing drug-infused edibles — and the absence of an effective system of quality controls.

There are consequences, of course. The tab to date, per CDC, from this one product line:

  • Total cases: 48
  • Hospitalizations: 27 (close to 56%— Means illness is severe.)
  • Potentially associated death: 1 (under investigation)
  • States: 24 (AL, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IN, IA, KY, MD, MN, MO, MT, NV, NJ, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN)
  • Recall: Yes
  • Investigation status: Active

The story made the national news.

Mushroom chocolates, gummies recalled across multiple states linked to hospitalizations, illness

Per CDC, “[the products] might contain undisclosed ingredients, including illicit substances, other adulterants, or potentially harmful contaminants that are not approved for use in food.” At least one of these appears to have been quite toxic.

In addition to adult use, edibles are well-known for the risks they present to young children, who naturally mistake the brightly colored gummies for candy. Diamond’s products are coated with chocolate, and come in flavors like Cookies and Cream.

You have to wonder what age group they’re seeking to attract.

Obviously, a product that’s available online will be difficult to monitor. But that difficulty also extends to the many illegal stores and outlets that have proliferated in states such as New York, where outlaw pot shops greatly outnumber the licensed variety.

Do we even know where all of them are  located? I seriously doubt it.

Problem: even if society passes good laws to regulate sales, how can we enforce them?

It won’t be easy. New vendors emerge every week, offering still more products, quite possibly made with the same lack of oversight.

This is going to be a tough one to fix. Same for the other cases that I’m sure are yet to come.