Summary Understanding how long magic mushrooms stay in your system depends on whether you’re talking about drug test detection or psychedelic effects. This guide explains both timelines, common effects, legality, and reasons people use magic mushrooms.
- Drug test detection window: urine tests can detect psilocybin use for 12 hours to 3 days, though most standard tests don’t screen for mushrooms.
- Trip duration: effects typically last 4–6 hours, with the peak around 2–3 hours and mild aftereffects lasting up to 24 hours.
- Effects include hallucinations, euphoria, and deep or spiritual experiences, with risks of bad trips or anxiety at higher doses.
- People use them for recreational, spiritual, or potential medical purposes—with legal medicinal use in Oregon and Colorado.
- Despite their short detection window, mushrooms remain federally illegal, though some states and cities have decriminalized or allowed therapeutic use.
The question “How long do magic mushrooms stay in your system?” can be interpreted in two different ways:
The first is how long the metabolites your body creates after you consume them (and that can be detected on some drug tests) last. The short answer to that question is, for urine drug tests, about 12 hours to 3 days, depending on doses and frequency of use.
The second is how long the effects of magic mushrooms last. In this context, the short answer is that they last for roughly 3 to 6 hours.
Those short answers are helpful, but they only scratch the surface of each question. Let’s take a deeper dive into magic mushrooms to learn more about what they are and how long they last.
What Are Magic Mushrooms?
“Magic mushrooms” is a general term that can refer to a few related but distinct items:
- Mushrooms containing psilocybin. Psilocybin is a psychedelic chemical that naturally occurs in certain species of mushrooms. When people talk about magic mushrooms, they often, but not always, mean this narrower definition.
- Any mushroom with psychoactive or psychedelic effects. There are a variety of mushrooms that contain chemicals that lead to these effects. They are also called recreational mushrooms. Sometimes, the term magic mushrooms is used to apply to all of them.
For the purposes of this blog, we’re focusing on the first definition. There is a wide range of mushrooms with some type of psychedelic or psychoactive effects (i.e., the second definition), and they all stay in your system for different periods of time.
Effects of Magic Mushrooms
Magic mushrooms are well-known for changing the perceptions of users, as Healthline explains. Their active ingredients, including psilocybin and other similar substances, can cause visual and auditory hallucinations. Well-known examples include seeing moving patterns and distortions in the world around you.
These mushrooms can also cause a sense of euphoria, a sense of a mystical or religious experience, and thoughts that seem deeper or more profound.
People tend to take smaller doses of magic mushrooms in more social or active situations, using them to enhance their experience. Larger doses are generally taken in quieter and more secure settings, where the more intense effects can be managed more easily.
Side effects, which can increase in likelihood and severity as doses increase, may include nausea and vomiting, anxiety, paranoia, unpleasant thoughts and hallucinations (called bad trips), and high blood pressure.
Legality of Magic Mushrooms
Magic mushrooms are illegal on the federal level and in many states. However, Colorado and Oregon have legalized magic mushrooms for therapeutic use. Colorado also allows personal possession and use, but not sales, of magic mushrooms.
Additionally, some cities, such as Detroit, Seattle, and a few in Massachusetts, have decriminalized the possession of magic mushrooms. While they can’t be sold in these areas, enforcement of laws related to them is seen as the lowest priority for police.
How Long Do Magic Mushrooms Usually Stay in Your System? FAQs Answered
How Long Do Mushrooms Stay in Your System for a Drug Test?
Magic mushrooms do not remain in most users’ systems for very long. They are processed quickly by the body, leading to a short detection window.
Urine tests for drugs can only detect evidence of mushroom use for about 12 hours to three days after they’re ingested. Medical News Today explains that most users can expect to be free from the signs of mushroom use in about one day.
It’s also worth noting that, while it is possible to find evidence of mushroom use, most standard drug tests (like 10-panel urine drug tests) do not look for them.
How Long Do Psilocybin Mushrooms Stay in Your System – How Long is a Mushroom Trip?
How long do psychedelic mushrooms stay in your system in terms of their effects? The effects of shrooms tend to last for about 4-6 hours.
Noticeable effects can begin as early as 20-30 minutes after ingesting the mushrooms, with the peak of their intensity happening around the 2-3 hour mark. After that point, the effects will start to taper off, with most users feeling mostly returned to normal by about 6 hours. However, some minor lingering effects can continue for up to 24 hours.
Your metabolism, whether you’ve eaten recently, the specific mushroom product you use, and many other factors can influence how long a mushroom trip lasts. So, consider these numbers as estimates and not a firm timeline for every experience.
What are the Effects of Magic Mushrooms?
Magic mushrooms have effects including visual and auditory hallucinations, a sense of euphoria or well-being, a sense of deep or introspective thought, and the feeling of a religious or mystical experience.
Smaller doses tend to have less-intense effects. Users might take them before going to a party or a concert to enhance the experience, as well as in the comfort of their own home. Larger doses produce more intense effects that can interfere with spatial awareness and logical thought, so they are often safer and more pleasant to enjoy in a calm and controlled setting.
Why Do People Use Magic Mushrooms?
Magic mushroom use can be broken down into three main categories:
- Recreational use, to enjoy the altered state of consciousness and the visual and auditory effects.
- Spiritual or religious use, to feel a connection to the world or a higher power. These are common reasons for the traditional use of magic mushrooms in various cultures where mushrooms grew natively and their properties were known to users.
- Medical use, to potentially treat certain mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. Mushrooms are legal for medicinal use in Oregon and Colorado.
Legal Recreational Mushrooms From Delta 8 Resellers
Delta 8 Resellers offers a variety of federally legal recreational mushrooms from the industry’s top brands. Whenever available, we share the results of third-party lab testing so you can see the purity, potency, and quality of our products for yourself.
