Hallucinogenic mushrooms helped critically ill cancer patients overcome the anxiety of coping with their last days, a 2005 study. Results of a study released Tuesday by researchers in Los Angeles showed that patients who were administered psilocybin, the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms, liked relief from depression that enabled them to deal with the psychological and spiritual ordeal of a terminal illness. In the 1970s, the federal government made a law that stopped the lawful use of mind altering drugs for instance LSD. This is also when psychedelic drug research had to stop. Scientists who want for making hallucinogens something that could be used clinically consider the shrooms study a milestone.
Death is easy with hallucinogens
The magic mushroom study results were posted within the Archives of General Psychiatry. This is a prestigious psychiatric journal that posted it. CNN reports that 12 patients struggling with their terminal diagnosis took a small dose of psilocybin under clinical supervision. A placebo was given to a control group. There was little effect with this. The mood of patients was better when there was less anxiety after one to three months of taking psilocybin. There was a 30 percent drop in depression amongst the group after only six months. Some patients said their experience with psilocybin gave them a new perspective on their illness and brought them closer to family and friends.
Prepared research on psychedelic drugs
The researchers who did the magic mushroom study hope to be able to continue. In fact, they’re trying to get funding right now. ABC News talks about where psilocybin works in the brain. It works on the area that typically controls the nonverbal imagery and emotion. Numerous cultures have used magic mushroom hallucinogens for a long time. Cultural and political conflict brought therapeutic analysis having psychedelic drugs to a halt within the 1970s. A professor of psychiatry at Harbor-USLA Medical Center called Dr. Charles Grob said to ABC News that “40 years later, society has reached a point where it is sufficiently mature to handle these compounds in a safe and structured manner,” as he lead the shrooms studies.
Home not the place
Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University explained that psilocybin studies are easy to do safely considering the shrooms study, not even taking into account that hallucinogens are beneficial in a clinical use. Griffiths, who’s conducting his own study using psilocybin, told the Los Angeles Times the analysis conducted on psychedelic drugs in the 1950s and ’60s “was promising, but by no means did it reach the kinds of scientific standards that we would expect today.”. Approval for experiments was only given to Griffiths and Grob by, reports the Times, federal and local regulators. The researchers also warned cancer patients. They explained that cancer patients shouldn’t be trying magic mushrooms at home. There were minimal amounts of bad trips within the studies. This is because doses were carefully regulated.
Additional reading
CNN
cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/09/06/magic.mushrooms.ease.anxiety/?hpt=T2
ABC News
abcnews.go.com/Health/ucla-study-finds-magic-mushrooms-curb-anxiety-advanced/story?id=11568335
Los Angeles Times
latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-magic-mushrooms-20100907,,4230087.story?track=rss
