As I sank down in my seat to celebrate a birthday dinner at a trendy Mexican bar, I couldn’t help notice that my friends all looked remarkably relaxed and stress free.
With multiple kids each, there is no denying we are in the depths of frazzled parenting despair – often congratulating ourselves for merely making it through another week.
But here I was running late, desperately trying to catch the eye of a passing waiter to get a drink while they all seemed… way too chilled.
As I sipped on my sauvignon blanc and tried to catch up with the conversations and the vibe, I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
Fresh filler? Nope. A weekend away? Apparently not. A new au pair? No chance. So what was giving them all that contented glow?
‘I micro-dosed some ‘shrooms before I left home,’ one smiled as she opened her well-worn ‘going out out’ clutch to reveal a couple of unlabelled white bottles that looked more like eyedrops than illegal drugs.
My mind was immediately back to the festival heydays of the mid ’90s. I grew up in Cornwall, England, where mushrooms grew on our school field and, a few years later, they were our drug of choice at music events.
Hippies, ravers, wayward teens – you expect them to take magic mushrooms. But not respectable, middle-class mothers.
Jonica Bray says ‘mushie mums’ are the new ‘wines and lines mums’, with magic mushroom microdosing on the rise as cocaine becomes too expensive (stock image posed by models)
I’d heard all sorts of stories of people seeing tiny firemen running through fields and psychedelic clouds chasing after them.
But here I was surrounded by suburban mums who were all quietly buzzing off drugs as they held intelligent conversations and sipped on chilled wine.
To be honest, the illegal part didn’t even cross my mind. The ‘wines and lines’ mum brigade has been a fixture of family-friendly events here in Australia for years.
At BBQs, kids’ parties and even school fundraisers, there is always a steady trickle of high-heeled ladies conspicuously powdering their noses in the bathroom stalls.
And as a fellow sleep-deprived mum, I get it. No judgment here.
But cocaine has become more problematic in recent years for the social users. For a few reasons: one, its exorbitant price and two, the fact you never really know what you’re buying.
‘It’s expensive and with mortgage rates so high I can’t really justify it as often,’ one former cocaine mum who recently converted to ‘shrooms told me. ‘And honestly you can’t really trust what’s in coke anymore.’
She’s not wrong. A 2022 study by the Australian National University found only three out of five cocaine samples tested actually contained cocaine.
‘Here I was surrounded by suburban mums who were all quietly buzzing off drugs as they held intelligent conversations and sipped on chilled wine,’ writes Jonica Bray (pictured)
‘And I just feel better on mushrooms. I’m happier, more focused and not so overwhelmed. I sleep better in the days that follow and wake up feeling rested. I’m a better parent for it,’ she added.
Recent studies have found that people who reported microdosing magic mushrooms saw improvements in symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress.
For the uninitiated, microdosing refers to taking very small doses of substances, often psychedelics, for therapeutic or performance-enhancing benefits. The trend started among tech bros in Silicon Valley in the 2010s but has since spread to the suburbs.
Mushrooms use is Illegal in Australia and carries maximum penalty is 20 years if you are caught with a commercial quantity. But the use of mushrooms has increased, doubling since 2019.
Since that night at the Mexican restaurant, I have been asking around about ‘shrooms. More than a few mums in my group chat admit they microdose a couple of times a week and insist it makes them a better parent.
‘I enjoy the kids more,’ a mum of twins said. ‘Parenting doesn’t feel like such a chore.
Recent studies have found that people who reported microdosing magic mushrooms saw improvements in symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress (stock image)
‘I don’t feel high or have hallucinations. I actually feel more in control and manage to get a lot more done with my time.’
Another mum, who recently returned to her high-pressure city finance job after maternity leave, said she was also a weekly user.
‘It’s like the baby brain fog lifts and I have more energy. I’m more productive and far less snappy with the kids once I get home and at weekends.
‘More studies should be done to make them legal, because as far as I’m concerned mums on mushies are a lot better than some of the alternatives.’
- The images in this article are stock photos only and do not depict any persons involved in the conduct referred to in the articleÂ
