Guess What – Magic Mushrooms Might Be Good Medicine

By James Donahue

A team of researchers has now studied and documented the effects of “magic mushrooms,” technically known as the psilocybin variety, and learned something that most users probably already know . . . the “shroom” offers a safe, long-lasting way of improving lives and personal feelings of well-being.

So why are psilocybin mushrooms on the government’s Schedule I list of controlled substances? That is a good question. As a Schedule I substance psilocybin carries the highest penalties for possession and sale. Conviction can lead to jail or prison time, stiff fines, and loss of a driver’s license.

Even though the Federal Drug Administration regards psilocybin and peyote as dangerous natural substances, some Native American tribes are still allowed to legally use these substances as part of sacred ritual.

Psilocybin is considered a hallucinogen with effects on the brain much like that produced by LSD and peyote. Now it is known that all three of these so-called “dangerous” substances have been proven to be safe to use with no ill effects, other than providing a few hours in an altered state of consciousness, anyone caught in possession or using these substances could face severe penalties.

Government propaganda, designed to frighten people away from trying psilocybin, warn of extreme mood s wings, ranging from feelings of euphoria to deep levels of fear, anxiety and depression. The mushroom reportedly changes vision perception, sometimes permanently, and users sometimes discover that they have become overly sensitive to movement and light.

One report stated that “the drug alters the sense of time as well. Users report feeling that time is standing still, or moving backward. They may feel that the boundaries between their bodies and the earth have dissolved.

The official documents warn that the mood swings produced by psilocybin may last for days, and anyone suffering from schizophrenia or other “mood disorders” may trigger lasting episodes of mental illness.

Because it is rated as a highly illegal drug, scientific research on the real effects of psilocybin has been limited. The late psychologist Timothy Leary, tested psilocybin and LSD as potential treatments for mental patients. Similar studies have been quietly going on in other countries where the drugs have been showing so much promise that there has been a growing call for the legalizing of these substances for further research and possible use.

Leary and Ralph Metzner also tested psilocybin as a way to alter early life implants that led to criminal behavior among prison inmates. They found that inmates that participated in the test study had a lower rate of recidivism than those that were not given the drug following release from prison.

Leary is remembered as a rebel leader that promoted the use of LSD and psilocybin at about the time federal authorities were clamping down on narcotic use in the United States.

The latest study of psilocybin, conducted by an unnamed group of researchers (for obvious reasons) and reported in Mother Jones magazine, found that the substance indeed “produces a mystical experience” and a “transcendence of space and time.”

The team also learned that the mushroom usually produced feelings of joy, happiness and positive social effects that sometimes lasted up to 14 months. “Nearly all the subjects still reported positive changes in their lives, especially if they received their psilocybin in increasing dosages.”

The team found that bad trips full of fear and anxiety occurred only when the psilocybin was received in a negative environment. When the subject was mentally prepared and given the drug in pleasant surroundings, often with soft music playing in the background, the experience was always positive.

The unnamed author of the Mother Jones story concluded with the following:

“So there you have it; a genuine mystical experience with long-lasting positive effects, no reported negative effects, no known medical side effects in healthy people, and with virtually no chance of a bad experience. Does that sound like something you’d like to try? Well, you cant, no matter how safe and beneficial it might be. Psilocybin is a Schedule I controlled substance and you can’t have any.”