How Long Do Shrooms Stay in Your System?

The primary method used to detect the use of magic mushrooms is specialized urine testing. If this type of test is conducted, the detection window is usually about 24 hours since a person’s last use.[1] It’s also possible to perform a hair test for shroom use, but this isn’t common.

Shroom Half-Life & Its Impact in Your System

The term shrooms or magic mushrooms usually refers to psilocybin mushrooms, a group of hallucinogenic mushrooms. The drug in these mushrooms is their namesake, psilocybin, which turns into psilocin in the body. This then causes the effects associated with the mushroom.[1]

Psilocin has an elimination half-life of about three hours.[1] This is the time it takes for about half of the drug currently in a person’s system to be removed. It generally takes four to five half-lives for a drug to be at least 95% removed from a person’s system. 

While under the effects of shrooms, a person will hallucinate. This means they will see and hear things that aren’t there. They will often feel a sense of euphoria and well-being. Negative effects can include stomach pain, nausea, headaches, fast or irregular heartbeat, rapid breathing, a “bad trip,” vomiting, facial flushing, sweating, and chills.[2] 

Shroom Drug Test Detection Timeline

Drug testing for shroom use isn’t very common, and the detection window for hallucinogenic mushroom use is usually fairly small. The following chart describes the types of tests that might be used to detect shroom use:[1,3,5]

Urine Testing

A standard urine screening won’t typically detect shroom use. However, a person’s urine can be tested for shroom use, which is usually only done if there’s reason to suspect they are experiencing the effects of mushrooms during the period the sample is being collected. 

This is in part due to the narrow detection window. After about 24 hours, most shroom use won’t be detectable via urine testing.[2]

While it’s possible to test for shroom use via hair (described in the next subsection), federally regulated programs currently only collect and test urine. Urine testing is usually considered relatively noninvasive. It doesn’t require significant time from an individual and also doesn’t require any type of specialist to collect a sample. The collection process is painless and usually done privately in a restroom. 

Hair Testing

Hair follicles can be tested for the presence of hallucinogenic compounds, and as a result, they might be able to detect the use of shrooms. In ideal conditions, the detection window with this type of testing can be as long as 90 days.[3] However, many conditions can reduce this detection window, including the way a person chooses to cut their hair. 

This type of testing isn’t very common. It can be expensive and requires a period of time between when a person uses drugs and the time it takes for their hair to grow out before a test can detect drug use of at least a few days. Collecting a hair sample isn’t typically painful, but it is considered relatively invasive, as hair must be cut off an individual and taken for testing purposes.  

Notable Limitations 

The reality is that it takes relatively specialized tests to detect magic mushroom use, and the most common type of test has a short detection window. While the reason to perform drug tests can vary, the general concern is usually that an individual is doing drugs in a way that might be unsafe during work hours or that they otherwise cannot control their drug use. Because shrooms are hallucinogenic and can cause significant mood changes, it will often be obvious when a person is under their effects.  

The most likely scenario in which a person will be tested for shroom use is when it’s already strongly suspected they are under the effects of shrooms and an organization wants to confirm it for legal reasons or for the sake of thoroughness.[6] Random testing for shroom use would be uncommon. It would be a significant added expense for most organizations, and it’s unlikely to catch many individuals.  

Factors That Can Impact Detection Time With Shrooms

It should be noted that the detection window of any drug can vary depending on the individual. The numbers discussed so far are general figures based on the standard person. A person’s metabolism, which refers to the processes their body uses to process things inside the body, can differ enough from this norm to impact shroom detection time.

Potential factors that can impact metabolism include the following:[4]

• Age
• Sex
• Physical activity levels
• Hormone function
• Liver function

The frequency with which a person uses a drug and the amount they use can also affect their detection window, with longer and heavier use often extending the detection window. 

It’d be relatively rare for a fairly healthy individual to have a detection window significantly different than the norm. However, variation is possible. Variations are much more common in people with certain health conditions or people who are taking some medications that may significantly alter their metabolism. These cases usually extend the length of a detection window.