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GILES COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) - A Middle Tennessee vape shop is accused of selling a man chocolate that caused him to hurt himself severely.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations and the Pulaski Police Department said Cloud Master Smoke and Vape sold a man two "magic mushroom" chocolate bars, which caused him to harm himself and have seizures in a pool of his blood.
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"I wanted to get the public's attention if anyone out there had purchased some of these products and know it could lead to something as horrible as what happened to this guy," said District Attorney Brent Cooper.
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Cooper said the chocolate bars should've never been on the shelves in the first place.
The "Diamond Shruumz" product was recalled on June 27, but the DA said this man was still able to purchase it from the vape store on July 6.
Federal health officials are investigating a possible death and hospitalizations tied to the brand.
According to the Diamond Shruumz website, the active ingredient in the candy is muscimol, which is also a psychoactive chemical.
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According to the DA, preliminary analysis from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) found psilocybin in the WZRDZ Joke's Up! chocolate bar.
Psilocybin is a psychoactive compound found in "magic mushrooms" or "shrooms."
While he did not treat this man in particular, psychiatrist and psychedelics researcher Dr. Joshua Siegel said it is possible that there was more at play than this man eating both of these chocolate bars.
"It's just hard to know without knowing...what was this individual's psychiatric history? What was in his blood at the time? What was going on?" Siegel questioned.
However, Siegel said "shrooms" use has become more common in recent years with more academics and drug companies doing more research on the drug and some municipalities working to decriminalize its use.
"I guess it's not surprising that a secondary consequence of that is that there has been increasing illicit use of psychedelics," Siegel said.
Researchers at New York University found law enforcement in the U.S. seized 1,800 pounds of mushrooms in 2022. In 2017, they seized 500 pounds.
Siegel said in a clinical setting, using shrooms has a low medical risk and it is "virtually impossible" to overdose if someone is only taking a psychedelic.
However, a lot of people aren't taking these drugs in a controlled environment.
Siegel said patients with a personal or close family history of psychosis or bipolar disorder aren't typically allowed into psilocybin studies and trials.
"It's kind of a spectrum of psychotic symptoms. It can be just kind of a sense of de-realization or feeling like you're disconnected to reality, up to a full-blown psychotic episode," he said.
Siegel also warned people against combining other drugs with psychedelic mushrooms or using an untested product.
"These are powerful drugs and they can be beneficial when used in the right settings in careful ways, and they can be just as harmful when used in the wrong settings and the wrong individuals," he said.
Siegel also said alcohol use is linked to people being hospitalized for self-harm.
News 2 reached out to Cloud Master Smoke and Vape and the companies behind both brands of chocolate bars and didn't hear back.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a prevention network of 161 crisis centers that provides a 24/7, toll-free hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.