MUSHROOMS LEAD TO COURT TRIP

A POLICE crackdown saw 15 people appear in Donnybrook Magistrate's
Court on magic mushroom charges on Thursday.

As charges were read, it became clear most had gathered the fungi at a
Forest Products Commission-managed pine plantation near Balingup, a
popular picking site for years.

Residents of Balingup, about 70km south-east of Bunbury, have long
complained of stoned mushroom pickers knocking on their door seeking
help when lost or out of fuel.

Every winter as mushrooms have pushed up through the pine needles,
police have had an easy job catching the culprits. Forty people were
caught in three weeks in June.

Possession of the mushrooms, which contain a prohibited drug, carries
fines of up to hundreds of dollars and the likelihood of a criminal
conviction. Police warn that ingesting mushrooms also can cause
psychological problems.

All 15 in court pleaded guilty and were fined an average of $100 each
plus $57 court costs. Past fines have been as high as $400.

Sen. Const. Peter Duncan, of Donnybrook police, said police knew
exactly where pickers went. Parked cars were a giveaway and locals
had no hesitation in calling police.

"The intelligence is extrmeely good," Sen. Const. Duncan said.
"Because it's seasonal, you can be down there and waiting for them."

Forest Products Commission plantation manager Sean Sawyer said that
experiments to eradicate mushrooms from the plantation had met with
varying success. Clearing and burning pine debries, spreading
superphosphate - which shrivelled growing mushrooms - and introducing
grazing cattle had been tried.

But the unpredictable nature of mushroom growth made it hard to know
what resources to use, and where. This winter had followed two years
of drought in the Balingup area.

Magistrate Robert Lawrence was heard to mutter in court that it must
have been a good crop this year.