Why mushroom oil has become the drug of choice for cool middle-class parents in London
Share:
After a few glasses of champagne (or rather, Lidl’s crémant) at a school mum’s Sunday afternoon drinks party, Melanie* found herself being covertly offered a little brown bottle. Her host urged her to drop a pipette’s worth onto her hand and lick. “It’s mushroom oil,” she was told.
![[Mushroom oil comes in a small brown bottle with a pipette]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/23/15/01/bottle.jpeg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
“I’ve heard lots of people talking about taking mushroom oil, but this was the first time I’d done it,” the 37-year-old says. “It felt a bit weird taking drugs while the kids were all running around — but my friend assured me it was just a gentle buzz, a bit like being pissed, but without any hangover the next day.”.
![[Alcohol is being replaced by mushroom oil at middle-class dinner parties ]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/23/15/34/whisky-8381812_1280.jpeg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
She’s now a convert — as are a growing tide of middle-class women, often battling early parenthood. “It’s all anyone talks about at the moment at school pick-up,” says Eleanor, 42, a successful PR who lives in west London. “It’s definitely exploded.” She said she started taking it in lockdown “to help me relax. Now all my friends do it.”.
![['I was taking 3 grams a night': Why men are using ketamine to treat their depression]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2024/11/12/16/39/GettyImages-1499013102.jpeg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Olivia, a 38-year-old mother-of-three from north-east London, first tried it in the park one afternoon at a friend’s birthday, shortly after her youngest had just turned one. As she left the park, a friend offered her a drop of the golden-brown liquid to send her on her way. “I got home, put my son to bed, then spent the next hour gardening in a gloriously happy, lively state while my partner, who had also had a drop, pulled a three-course dinner out of seemingly nowhere. We had such a joyful energy and focus, which couldn’t have been more different to how I feel after a few glasses of wine.”.
![['Microdosing magic mushrooms helped me overcome the grief of dad's death']](https://static.standard.co.uk/2024/01/10/11/08/thumbnail_Sarah%20Duguid.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
