NUMBERS FOR DRUG BUST NOT ACCURATE

Computing Error Led To Overestimation Of Mushroom Doses Seized

A calculating glitch appears to have caused the dollar amount to mushroom
into the millions on a major psilocybin mushroom bust in North Texas.

The 25 pounds of mushrooms seized last week were worth only a fraction of
the money authorities originally believed, police said.

The original figure topped $11 million. The North Texas Regional Drug Task
Force said that amount was about 25 times too high.

The Task Force, the Wichita Falls Police Department's Organized Crime Unit,
Department of Public Safety narcotics officers and the Clay County
Sheriff's Department worked together on the investigation. They say the
mushroom distribution operation stretched from Wichita Falls to Austin.

The investigation resulted in a large find - 21 pounds of mushrooms - at a
Clay County home June 8. Officers also seized a few more pounds from other
related incidents, they said.

Drug investigators originally thought the 25 pounds of mushrooms held 1.13
million dosage units, making them worth $11.35 million.

Those are the numbers the DPS computerized reporting system came up with,
WFPD Sgt. Cindy Walker said.

But that magic $11 million number didn't go with the magic mushrooms after
all - a glitch in the reporting system caused it to calculate the figures
as it would for LSD, instead, Walker said. The system separates LSD and
"other hallucinogenic drugs," DPS narcotics investigator Jim Blake said
after the bust.

Walker said something went wrong in the calculation, and the dosage unit
used to determine the value of psilocybin mushrooms is a quarter of a gram.
That would add up to 45,400 dosage units in this case instead of more than
1 million. The lower number makes the total value closer to $454,000 at $10
per dosage unit, Walker said.

The Drug Enforcement Agency uses ounces as a basis for figuring out value,
and the agency said the prices vary. The United States Department of
Justice's Web site says psilocybin mushrooms generally sell for $20 per [
of an ounce, and for $100-$150 per ounce.

Eating the mushrooms causes hallucinations and affects the senses, the DEA
reported. It said the drugs can make colors seem brighter and create a
mixing of senses like "hearing a color." The drug can also make it hard to
tell the difference between fantasy and reality. They're not as popular as
many other drugs, the agency said, but they do pop up where young crowds
gather - college campuses, parties and raves.

Investigators said the mushrooms were cultivated at the Clay County
residence. Officers have made one arrest so far in the local case.

Joe Ben Patrick, 53, of Clay County was charged with unlawful delivery or
manufacture with intent to deliver a simulated controlled substance in
connection with the June 8 incident. Bond was set at $10,000. He was free
from the Wichita County Jail Thursday.

Investigators were still looking into the incident and expected to make
another arrest in connection with the case.