The act of inhaling the combustion products of psilocybin-containing mushrooms is a method of ingestion distinct from the more common oral consumption. This approach involves applying heat to the fungi and drawing the resulting smoke into the respiratory system. This process differs significantly from eating them raw, dried, or prepared in food or beverages.
While the traditional use of psilocybin mushrooms centers around oral ingestion for their psychoactive effects, the practice of inhaling their smoke is not a conventional or particularly effective route of administration. The active compounds, primarily psilocybin and psilocin, are sensitive to heat, and combustion degrades them. Consequently, the intended effects are substantially diminished, if experienced at all. Reports regarding this practice are not widely documented in ethnobotanical or scientific literature.