Hallucinogenic mushrooms, as far as drugs go, aren't all that damaging to the human body. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control considers "magic mushrooms" less toxic than aspirin. But it's the things people do while under the influence of mushrooms -- like take a header out of an eighth story window -- that makes abusing them dangerous.
A Tempe man living in New York City may have learned about the underlying dangers of psilocybin use in one of the worst ways possible -- police suspect he may have been under the influence of the drug when he fell eight floors out of his dorm room wondow early yesterday morning.
The New York Daily News
reports that 19-year-old Michael Simmons, of Tempe, took mushrooms with
a group of friends in his dorm room in the St. George Hotel in
Brooklyn before falling eight stories to his death.
Simmons, a first-year dramatic arts student at Brooklyn College, split
up from the group as the night progressed and was next seen on the
sidewalk outside of the building after falling from his window around 2
a.m.
Police don't suspect foul play, but won't say whether it was an accident
or suicide. They won't say whether drugs contributed to the fall but
friends told the NYDN he and several other friends had taken mushrooms prior to his falling out the window.
Police won't know any more details until an autopsy is performed.
