What is this all about?
On 8th June 2006 the chairman of a religious group, calling himself Pastor David, has been imprisoned on remand in Switzerland. This association calls itself SMCS (Sacred Mushroom Church of Switzerland). Pastor David, whose full name is David Jan Schlesinger and who has German citizenship, is active in the application of psilocybin-containing mushrooms since many years. The followers of the SMCS regard these mushrooms as holy, because they allow spiritual experience and make lasting improvements of the whole psychical and physical health condition possible.
We won't explain the mode of functioning of the mushrooms in detail here, but many people don't have doubts, that these mushrooms change the consciousness in a way, that they can be applied as a cure against different forms of mental illness and have the power to lead their users to religious experiences.
The imprisonment of David Schlesinger is taken by us as a clear infringement of the human rights, because it is based on laws, which limit the freedom of religion, guaranteed by international human right and national constitution, and these laws are obviously specifically designed to limit this freedom.
The working field of the SMCS is not primarily focused on the distribution of mushrooms, but also on long term goals, that have no relation to the provisioning of mushrooms to members and followers. These are among other things the establishment of local supply structures (e.g. agriculture), whose ecological sense is more important than short term financial gain, as well as the implementation of pacifism and ecological sight as the highest priority of international politics and social engagement.
In the USA and other countries several accepted churches and religious groups exist, based on the consumption of so called entheogens, which are similar in their influence on the human mind to the psychedelic mushrooms. Some links on this topic:
As the chairman of the SMCS is imprisoned on remand now and will probably be accused of having dealed with substances, which fall under the Swiss narcotics law (Betäubungsmittelgesetz), the situation of the SMCS is difficult, in our view caused by nonsensical, not justifiable and obviously sociopolitically motivated repression. Furthermore, the arrest is quite questionable from a juridical point of view, because there are legal regulations, argueing for the legality of the mushrooms, and which suggest, that the acting of the Swiss authorities is unlawful and that Switzerland is breaking international law according to various UN-treaties.
The legal status in Germany
Since 1998 the legislator in Germany is trying to expand the coverage of the narcotics law (BtmG) from up to now nearly exclusively chemical substances and preparations to any life forms you can find in nature by appending various addenda. This way has been chosen, because it is obviously known, that listing the meant life forms by name is not allowed and could be appealed against successfully, as it has happened in the Netherlands in the case of psilocybin-containing mushrooms, with the consequence that fresh psilocybin-containing mushrooms are legal there and admittedly cannot be forbidden.
The following is also to be noticed:
fresh psilocybin-containing mushrooms are classified as foodstuff in the Netherlands, with the consequence, that they have to be allowed to be traded legally in all EU-countries.
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a sentence spoken by the appellate court in Koblenz decided, that mushrooms are not affected by the BtmG in versions dated earlier than 1th July 2005, because they are neither plants in the sense of the applicable addendum of the BtmG, nor substances accordant to the required defining criteria. Also the following change of the appendix I (Anlage I), which happened last year, is not believed to have impact, as the whole law still applies to plants and chemical substances only, but not mushrooms, and in consequence no organisms, which don't fit the corresponding definition. However, this assumption has not yet been proven by court.
The legal status in Germany and Switzerland
The psychotropic substances treaties of the UNO dated 1971 and 1988 express, that the psilocybin-containing mushroom can only be forbidden in countries signing the contract (including Germany and Switzerland), if the respective country presents a scientifical study, proving the danger of the mushroom. This has not been the case so far, so Switzerland for example is not allowed to announce a prohibition of the mushrooms. Up to now, only scientifical studies supporting the harmlessness of the mushrooms have been published, e.g. the CAM study from the Netherlands.
Some more links on this topic:
- Übereinkommen über psychotrope Stoffe (1971), German
- Übereinkommen der Vereinten Nationen gegen den unerlaubten Verkehr mit Betäubungsmitteln und psychotropen Stoffen (1988), German
Conclusion
While the legislator in Germany is trying to expand the coverage of the narcotics law (BtmG) by using unclear wording and constant changes in illegitimate ways, Switzerland ignores the rules of the international contracts in a direct way and listed various kinds of mushrooms and plants in their BtmG, without having an approval from the UNO.
The legal status put aside, many thousand users of the mushroom are convinced that the time has come to stop the criminalization by the state and the unobjective defamation by the media and to begin to make the positive aspects public, which are, as said above, remarkable. Recently a medicinical study has been published and discussed in different newspapers all around the world, accepting the positive effect of the mushrooms as medicine. Some related links:
- Washington Post: Drug's Mystical Properties Confirmed
- Hopkins Scientists Show Hallucinogen In Mushrooms Creates Universal Mystical Experience
Therefore, the mushrooms should not be a taboo subject any longer, as they have been used, besides others, by many indian tribes as holy sacrament and the influence on the human mind is such complex and promising, that they could lead to further development of various forms of psychotheraphy and to an improvement in quality of pharmacological supply. The mushroom could complement or replace many drugs, or render medicamentous treatments unnecessary in many cases. This applies to e.g. depression, but also postural deformity (as backache), which in many cases result from unhealthy mindsets (psychosomatic medicine).
For these named reasons, we hold the belief, that the Swiss authorities act not only judicially, but especially ethically wrong. The imprisonment of David Schlesinger has no foundation und should be ended immediately!