There’s a new Psilocybe mushroom on the market

Welcome back to The Drop In, DoubleBlind’s newsletter serving up news, culture, and independent journalism about psychedelics straight to your inbox. 

Curious about the stories you’ll only find in The Drop In? We’ve got one on a funky new Psilocybe strain called “Snowball” that comes with a curious genetic mutation. The other looks at a study about psilocybin-assisted therapy showing promise for treating methamphetamine addiction. You can find them immediately below.

Also, if you don’t have plans on Saturday, February 22, we’re hosting a Sex and Psychedelics workshop with Dr. Brinkley about the ins and outs of navigating deep intimacy on psychedelics. Come hang with us! You can find out more here 😛❤️

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Mary Carreón
Senior Editor

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There’s a New Magic Mushroom on the Market Called Snowball

Discovered by mycologist Pope Joseph, this fast-growing cloud-like strain signals a new frontier in psychedelic genetics.

Most mushrooms — from portobello to Psilocybe — have the same architecture: stem, cap, spores, gills. The Snowball mushroom doesn’t bother with any of that, however. Instead, this new strain grows in dense, cloud-like clusters — an anatomical anomaly in both form and function.

First reported by Popular Mechanics, the strain is the result of two years of genetic tinkering by a mycologist who goes by “Pope Joseph.” He first encountered the mutation while trying to cultivate a version of the Penis Envy mushroom with unique structural changes.

“I was trying to cultivate a thicker morphology by returning to spore,” says Pope Joseph, who discovered other mushroom strains like the Trackstar Triplets and SporeSquat, to DoubleBlind. He tested different compost blends, hoping that environmental stressors might coax out variations. Stress, he says, can trigger genetic shifts.

This mutation defied the traditional stem, cap, gills, and spores structure. This new mushroom was a capless, gill-less, stemless blob. 

“I’ve encountered blobs before, but this one was different — denser, more structured,” Pope Joseph says. “When I cut into it, it made this unexpected ‘ee-uur’ sound, almost like slicing through rubber.” Most oddities like this don’t keep their shapes or structures after a few cloning attempts. This one did, however.

Batch after batch, the Snowball kept its shape. It also grew fast — twice as fast as most strains — and produced large yields. “I’ve had single fruits weigh over 1,200 grams wet,” Pope Joseph says. “If active species records were formally documented, this would probably break a few.” The mushrooms also show an unusual trait: They grow partially underground, like truffles.

But what interests Joseph isn’t just the inception of the Snowball — it’s what it signals about where mushroom genetics are headed. “We’re entering an era of wild morphology,” he says. “Mushrooms that don’t just look different, but behave differently, in ways we haven’t fully mapped yet.”

As for its practical applications? The Pope doesn’t see the Snowball, or psilocybin mushrooms in general, as recreational substances.

“I personally don’t believe psychedelic mushrooms should be something used recreationally,” he says. “I find the experience they offer to be ineffable, in that they open you up to things you may have never realized you were oblivious to. They can make people [see] how they’d like to proceed forward in a way where they truly feel spiritual growth happening.”

Snowball, then, isn’t just another mushroom strain — they are an invitation for self-discovery.

Psilocybin Shows Promise in Treating Meth Addiction

A study suggests psilocybin therapy may help meth addiction, with nearly a third abstinent three months later.

A new study suggests that psilocybin-assisted therapy might offer a window of breakthrough for people dependent on methamphetamine — one of the most notoriously tricky substance use disorders to manage. Published as a preprint in The Lancet, the research found that the psychedelic treatment was "feasible to implement in an outpatient setting, did not appear to generate safety concerns, and demonstrated signals of effectiveness warranting further investigation."

Conducted in Australia, the study involved 14 participants — all of whom were over 25 and using methamphetamine at least four times a month — who underwent three preparatory sessions before receiving a single 25-milligram dose of psilocybin. This was followed by two therapy sessions over the course of a week. By the 90-day follow-up, 13 participants remained in the study, all of whom experienced promising results, Marijuana Moment reported. At the start of the study, participants were using methamphetamine about 12 times a month. 30 days after their psilocybin session, however, that number dropped to zero. By the 90-day follow-up, the average use had increased slightly to two days per month, but 29 percent of participants had stayed completely abstinent.

The study’s authors noted improvements not just in drug use but also in overall mental well-being. “Methamphetamine craving decreased while the quality of life, depression, anxiety, and stress improved from baseline to day 28 and 90 follow-ups,” the study, which has not been peer-reviewed, reports. And while psilocybin isn’t without its side effects — some participants reported headaches, nausea, and noise sensitivity — no serious adverse events were documented.

The findings, while promising, come with the usual caveats of small sample sizes and study limitations. Gender imbalances and the exclusion of individuals with stimulant-induced psychosis or hypertension mean the results aren’t necessarily generalizable. Still, the researchers argue that their work provides “early signals [psilocybin-assisted therapy] is feasible and safe to deliver in an outpatient setting.”

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🧠 Trauma: buzzword or universal experience? As psychedelics gain traction for trauma therapy, we’re asking—does everyone really have it? And how do we differentiate between genuine healing and over-pathologizing life’s struggles? Explore the nuances here.

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Latest Youtube Video

Whether you’re curious about trying shrooms for the first time or you’re an experienced psychonaut, you may be wondering about how building a tolerance to shrooms will affect your trip. 

Here’s something funny about this famous fungus: if you trip on Saturday, you’ll be disappointed if you try again on Sunday. Your brain won’t have it in quite the same way. DB’s Shelby Hartman dives into why that is on our YouTube. Tune in here.