Media: the tourist went to a “fly agaric” retreat in Sochi and died

The tourist was planning to relax and found an offer on the Internet about an unusual retreat in Sochi – with the use of fly agarics. However, the trip ended in tragedy – the traveler died, writes the telegram channel Mash. 

According to media reports, Yuri from the Arkhangelsk region purchased the tour for 105 thousand rubles, organized by Zakhar Khizhnyakov. He promised a specific “enlightenment” under mushrooms and for this he rented a house in the village of Edelweiss, near Krasnaya Polyana, and also hired masseuses. At the same time, the program included the use of drinks made by Zakhar himself from fly agarics. 

Khizhnyakov has no medical education, and he made “mushroom cocktails” by eye. It also happened in February, when he mixed the “fly agaric” ingredients for Yuri, exceeding the usual dose by 5 times. After consumption, the tourist suddenly became ill, “he turned blue and died from necrosis of the stomach and instant edema of the brain and lungs.”

The retreat organizer was taken for questioning, where he called a “fly agaric” coma a common occurrence. He is currently on his own recognizance, however, according to the telegram channel, he continues to advertise his tours online. The cost of the trip has even increased and now amounts to about 150 thousand rubles.  

Note that the fashion for microdosing fly agaric, which is the name of the practice of eating mushrooms in small quantities, gained popularity a couple of years ago. The so-called biohackers (amateur researchers interested in molecular biology) began to promote the idea of the usefulness of fly agarics in small doses. In their opinion, such a product helps to improve sleep and improve mood. 

Nevertheless, Rospotrebnadzor warns of the pseudoscientific nature of such statements and reminds of the danger of taking poisonous mushrooms, even in microdoses. “Fly agaric contains a number of toxic compounds, some of which have a psychotropic effect. One of these substances is ibotenic acid. It has neurotoxic properties and causes the death of brain cells, which explains its hallucinogenic effect,” the Federal Service’s website says.  

Источник