The Straight Dope 12/29/2006

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 12/29/2006

Dear Cecil:

Is it dangerous to eat magic mushrooms before they have dried out? Also
a little bird told me that 'shrooms are not at all illegal until they
are dried out. I live in England so I'm not really interested in
America's point of view on this. Finally I would like to know a little
bit about how magic mushrooms affect you and their health hazards for a
long-term user. --Sam, via email 

Cecil, how can the average grunt (myself) tell which mushrooms are safe
to eat and which will make you sick? I have a ton of 'em in my yard, and
I love 'shrooms, but I dunno what's good to eat and what isn't. Please
help! --Malful, Honey Brook, Pennsylvania

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Cecil replies:

If you didn't want to hear America's point of view, Sam, you probably
would have been smarter not to ask an American. But never mind -- I'll
endeavor to make this column parochial-limey-accessible. By "magic
mushrooms" I'll assume you mean your classic Psilocybe semilanceata
("liberty cap") mushrooms and their kin, and not others that can cause a
high, such as fly agaric. The active ingredients in magic mushrooms are
psilocin and psilocybin (the latter breaks down into the former).
Psilocin attaches itself to serotonin receptors in your brain, where it
stimulates neurons, and this stimulation in the absence of real (or
anyway external) stimuli is what leads to a sense of altered reality.

Contrary to legend, magic mushrooms . . .

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/061229.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

In April 2006, Italian authorities arrested Mafia godfather Bernardo
"The Tractor" Provenzano in Sicily. At the time, the media reported that
he had been convicted in absentia on multiple criminal charges during
his forty-plus (!) years on the lam. What does this mean in practical,
legal terms? Does a conviction in absentia mean that Provenzano can be
tossed summarily into prison, do not pass Go, do not collect 200 euros?
Or now that the authorities have him in the flesh, are they required to
try him again on the same charges? Does American or Canadian law allow
for trials in absentia? On the one hand you'd think this would violate
constitutional guarantees to a fair trial and the right to face one's
accusers. On the other hand, if the state has already made a solid legal
case against you and presented the testimony of witnesses who may have
since died or become fuzzy on the details because you were illegally at
large for so long, why should they be forced to do it all over again
with a much weaker hand? What do you think?  Mark S., Montreal, Quebec,
Canada  

SDStaff Bricker responds:  

The idea that we might be tried and convicted without our presence in
court is pretty foreign to our (and by "our," Mark, I mean "American"
notions of justice. Still, it's not such a crazy idea --  it happens
here under certain circumstances.

Italian law permits trial in absentia and Provenzano in consequence goes
directly to jail for his conviction in the 1992 murder of two anti-mafia
judges despite the fact that he didn't show up at his trial for these
crimes, having been a fugitive from Italian justice since 1963. Some
observers cynically suggest that Provenzano had an understanding of sorts
with his pursuers, since he was able to remain at large for over forty
years -- at one point he even traveled to France for a medical procedure
and had his expenses reimbursed by the Italian health care system.
Nonetheless, he was found guilty, and, now caught, will spend his
remaining days in the Italian Big House.

In the U.S., things are different. 

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mabsentia.htm

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 04/02/1990

Dear Cecil: 

Recently I was watching the season premiere of Against the Law (Fox
TV) when a character mentioned that he had almost blown up his dad by
sticking a potato up his car's tailpipe. Naturally I thought back to
Beverly Hills Cop, where Eddie Murphy foiled the bumbling cops by
putting a banana up their tailpipe.   Does this really work? If so, why
is it not more of a problem, especially in big cities where roving packs
of thugs beat the tar out of people for fun? Seems like blowing up a car
would have more comic value.   Must the potato be cooked? Will any
sizable fruit or vegetable (say, eggplant) do? I'd test on my own car,
but it already dances on the thin line between minimal functioning and
moribundity. --Patrick O., Alexandria, Virginia

Dear Patrick:  

How many times do I have to tell you? Don't believe anything you see
in the movies or on TV. Movies and TV shows are written by Hollywood
scriptwriters. For scriptwriters, reality is basically a plot device. 
Stuffing a potato or anything short of a hand grenade up a car's
tailpipe won't make it blow up. But it will keep the car from running.
If exhaust gases can't escape, the engine can't "breathe," so it dies.  
Think about it. When a car's cylinders move up and down, they pull fuel
and air in and push exhaust gases out. If the tailpipe is blocked, the
exhaust can't go anywhere and stays put in the cylinders, preventing
fresh stuff from entering. No fresh stuff = no combustion = no
transportation.   It also means no unintended explosions, which maybe is
why street gangs haven't picked up on it. Thank God. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_278.html

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