FLICKR, KOOIKKARI
A single dose of psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound in psychedelic mushrooms, alleviated anxiety and depression in cancer patients, according to two studies published this week (December 1) in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. Well over half of the 80 participants involved in both studies said that their psychedelic experiences brought them immediate and long-tem relief from the emotional toll of facing a serious illness.
Psychedelic mushrooms first attracted the attention of researchers in the 1960s, but future studies were all but outlawed by the strict drug policies of the 1970s, Scientific American reports. Roland Griffiths was among the first researchers to reopen clinical investigation of psilocybin in 1999, and he is now the coauthor of one of this week’s new studies.
Griffiths attributes the benefits of ...
