Give it a shot: deadly mushroom retreats are gaining popularity in Russia
Dangerous practices of "enlightenment" with the help of fly agarics, the so—called mushroom retreats, are spreading in Russia. Participants in hypnosis, efficiency and creativity enhancement courses use herbal hallucinogens. In 2024, this led to the death of a man in Sochi, and a criminal case was opened. The organizers of such practices are most often followers of Pavel Dmitriev, a native of Uzbekistan living in the United States, who claims to have created a new world religion, mycomysticism, and a method of "mystical healing." The organizers of the retreats insist that their activities are absolutely legitimate. Why do people go to such events, what happens there, and why they are really quite legal in Russia? — in the Izvestia article.
How are mushroom retreats conducted?
The practice of mushroom retreats — supposedly educational programs and events where plant hallucinogens are used — began to spread actively across the regions of Russia, Izvestia found out. Many websites and ads have appeared online offering to attend similar events in the Krasnodar Territory, Crimea, Karelia, Tula, Leningrad and Moscow regions.
Izvestia correspondents became participants in one of these programs, in the village of Zharkovo near Moscow. The organizers promised them that the course would help solve problems with health, money and relationships. In the private house where the retreat was held, potential participants were met by a man who introduced himself as shaman Yaroslav. He explained that panther fly agaric and other types of mushrooms that the program participants can try are "good for health."
The correspondents saw several people in the house — they were already unconscious. In one of the rooms there were many packages with various substances. The organizers offered to try fly agaric, promising that as a result, the participants of the retreat would experience enlightenment. However, the correspondents of the publication did not accept the offer. But they asked shaman Yaroslav what kind of plants and mushrooms are necessary for his courses, revealing that they are journalists.
— There are no prohibited substances here. There are fly agarics, chaga mushroom and crested hedgehog — we give these mushrooms to people for their health," he noted.
The publication also contacted the organizer of this retreat near Moscow, Vlas Bogatsky. The shaman called him and handed the phone to the correspondents.
"There's nothing criminal going on,— the organizer said. — People use fly agaric, which is legal in Russia.
Soon, law enforcement officers who arrived at the scene interrogated Yaroslav the shaman and searched the house.
— Three men were taken to the police department for medical examination. They showed no signs of drug intoxication. The herbal substances seized during the inspection of the premises were sent for research in order to identify narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in them," Georgy Dubovitsky, an employee of the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Moscow Region, told Izvestia.
Who is promoting mushroom retreats?
Pavel Dmitriev is called the founder of the hypnosis school and a network of organizations engaged in mushroom retreats. He was born in Tashkent, but now lives in the United States and trains in his courses "an army of healers who can help everyone else." Since about the end of 2023, he has been actively promoting the "new world religion" — mycomysticism, claiming that he created it himself.
Dmitriev's brief biography is described in his own social networks. It says that he tried to study psychology, but soon realized that "he wouldn't be able to help people that way" and became interested in hypnotherapy. The man allegedly studied the art of hypnosis, "working at a construction site and in a restaurant." He claims that he can "cure smoking in an hour."
Before going to a mushroom retreat, a person should buy an online course on hypnosis, Maxim, one of its participants, told Izvestia.
"People come to the training believing that they will be helped to solve their problems," he said. — Among my fellow students there were a huge number of people who are in desperate situations.
According to the source, the course consists of a huge amount of materials that can be watched for years.
"The course tells us that if hypnotherapy doesn't work well, there is another way to solve problems — you can go on a retreat," he added. — Many of those who decided to go did not get any results. Then they say that it is necessary to attend such events regularly.
As Anastasia, a participant in the course, told Izvestia, she wanted to get a job with Pavel Dmitriev, but the prerequisite for this was to complete his training. She joined his hypnosis course in October 2023.
— I didn't think that I had any problems in my life, but after watching Dmitriev's video, you start to think that you have them. He's telling you that. As well as the fact that if you want to cope with your difficulties, you need to come to his academy," she said.
Dmitriev actively promoted the courses of one of his first students, Viktor Alekseev.
"After eating mushrooms at the retreat, people started experiencing symptoms of poisoning, but they were told it was a cleansing process," she said. — Mushrooms supposedly "guide" a person through all his problems, and a solution comes to him.
The participants signed an agreement with Viktor Alekseev that he was not responsible for the consequences of eating mushrooms. The organizer of the retreat also assured that the mushrooms would not work if the clients did not pay the fee. Anastasia called it "tithing."
The consequences of mushroom retreats
In February 2024, a 25-year-old native of the Arkhangelsk Region died from similar practices in Sochi. He took paid courses, which involved collective practices with the use of mushroom drink. Murchin drank the decoction, and the next day he died of poisoning. A criminal case was opened — the organizer of the retreat, a 20-year-old young man, fully admitted his guilt, the regional department of the Investigative Committee reported. The case has been sent to court.
As the lawyer of the deceased's mother told Izvestia, the retreat took place over three days. According to him, the organizer is accused of providing services that do not meet security requirements. He faces up to six years in prison.
—But taking into account the fact that the accused has not been tried before and takes a confession position, the maximum possible punishment is four years," the lawyer noted.
According to him, the defendant claimed to be a follower of Vlas Bogatsky's movement and attended his retreats in the Moscow region — "on Rublevka." After that, I decided to organize similar events myself.
Bogatsky, in a conversation with Izvestia, noted that he had nothing to do with the situation.
— I am not aware of this situation. The people who refer to me are not my students, they are just looking for the extreme and want to get away from responsibility," he said.
What is the danger of using fly agaric
Fly agaric has no therapeutic effect, narcologist Vasily Shurov told Izvestia.
— It is difficult to get poisoned to death by fly agarics, for this you need to consume them in large quantities. They cause persistent psychosis — a person is in a delusional state after using them. Fly agarics belong to the group of hallucinogenic drugs," the expert added.
The organization of mushroom retreats may be subject to several articles of the criminal and administrative codes at once, criminal defense lawyer Albert Khaleyan told Izvestia.
— Fly agaric, depending on the method of preparation and the purpose of use, can be recognized as a psychotropic substance, — he noted. — The acquisition, storage, processing and distribution of such substances, including the organization of consumption, are criminalized.
According to the lawyer, the defendants in such cases may be charged with trafficking in narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances and inducing their consumption, trafficking in potent or poisonous substances for sale, as well as providing services that do not meet safety requirements.
Inducing the use of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances is considered a more serious crime. The organizers of the retreats did not just provide substances, but involved people in their consumption under the guise of some kind of therapeutic or spiritual practice, the lawyer argues.
— In the case of the death of one of the participants of the retreat in Sochi, another crime may be added — causing death by negligence. The organizers face up to two years in prison, and in aggravating circumstances, even more. The court will take into account whether they knew about the state of the deceased's health, what dose was offered to him, and whether they provided him with first aid," Albert Khaleyan noted.
At the same time, the agreement on the absence of responsibility of the organizers for the fatal outcome, which was signed by the participants of the retreats, has no legal force, the lawyer stressed.
— Signing such a "receipt" is a manipulative technique to create a false sense of "conscious risk" in the participant. The court will always be on the side of the victim, and such a paper will only become proof of the guilt of the organizers, who were aware of the possible fatal consequences in advance, the expert believes.
According to him, the founder of the mushroom retreat network may be prosecuted as the organizer and accomplice of the crime, even if he is abroad. In Russia, a criminal case may be opened against him, put on the international wanted list and apply for extradition.
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