Police raided a party at a Millersville home Friday, interrupting a group dominated by college students who police said were sharing hallucinogenic mushrooms and marijuana.
One young woman, who was "in bad shape," hallucinating from the drugs, was taken by ambulance to an area hospital, police said.
A second person, who went into seizures while police were on the scene, signed a release declining medical treatment, detectives said.
Stephen Kingdon Rolek, 21, who is not a college student but was hosting the party at the home he rents at 7 Applewood Lane, was charged with possession with intent to deliver marijuana and Psilocybin mushrooms, as well as possession of drug paraphernalia, police said.
Rolek was committed to county prison, pending a hearing. Lesser charges are pending against the others at the party, police said, and the condition of the young woman who was hospitalized was not available.
Psilocybin mushrooms, also known as "magic mushrooms," are ingested, police said, either by chewing, smoking or brewing into a tea. Its hallucinogenic effect can last six to eight hours, according to police.
Hallucinogenic mushrooms "have always been popular on college campuses" since they first appeared in the 1960s, a county Drug Task Force spokesman explained. "LSD is harder to get. Mushrooms can be bought on the West Coast."
On Friday night, shortly after 8 p.m., members of the Task Force and Manor Township Police went to the off-campus home with a search warrant.
Rolek and nine other young people, including seven students at Millersville University and two at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, police said, were in the attached garage area of the home.
The group, police said in a prepared statement, was "found to be smoking marijuana and passing a marijuana pipe around and also ingesting Psilocybin mushrooms."
As detectives entered the residence, police said, one person attempted to escape by running out a back door but was quickly taken into custody by waiting police officers.
When officers searched the home and garage, police said, they found several marijuana pipes and marijuana strewn about.
In searching the three-bedroom home, police said, they found in Rolek's bedroom a box containing nine ounces of marijuana, divided into one-ounce packages, with a street value of $1,800.
Also in Rolek's bedroom, police said, they found four ounces of Psilocybin mushrooms, divided into one-ounce packages, with a street value of $500.
Additionally, police said they found a loaded .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol under Rolek's mattress.
In two other bedrooms, police said, they found two additional loaded semi-automatic pistols.
A Task Force spokesman said Rolek's roommates, who were not home at the time, were not charged in connection with the drug possession.
Police did confiscate all three guns until they determine whether the weapons are legally owned, the spokesman said.
Because the Applewood Lane address is in the vicinity of a school, police said Rolek also will face a violation of the Drug Free School Zone, which can lengthen his sentence if he is convicted of the charges.
Applewood Lane is located between North George and Duke streets, just north of the college.
"We're very disappointed that Millersville students were involved in this kind of activity in an off-campus party," university spokeswoman Janet Kacskos said this morning.
Kacskos said she hoped the students would take advantage of the university's "extensive drug and alcohol education and abuse prevention program."
Depending on the police charges, Kacskos said, the students involved could face additional sanctions if it's determined that they violated the university's code of conduct.
Stevens College officials could not be reached this morning.
Police said they will take the case before District Attorney Craig W. Stedman to determine if Rolek qualifies for prosecution under Project Safe Neighborhood.
Project Safe Neighborhood prosecutes cases involving guns in federal court, where sentences are typically stiffer than in county court.
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