The Economist has an interesting article this week on the reemergence of research into the effects of psychadelic drugs - specifically magic mushrooms.
Mushrooms, also known as teonanacatl, hasn’t been studied seriously since the 1950s, but recently a team from Johns Hopkins began studies into the effects of psilocybin, the main active component of shrooms.
According to their study, which has been published in Psychopharmacology, psilocybin does indeed induce a mental state that they identify as akin to “religious experiences.” No big finding there. Their other finding, which may raise a few eyebrows however, is that psilocybin also has lasting positive effects on its users.
The findings, it has been suggested, may offer a possible treatment for alcohol and drug addictions.
The unfortunate part of this is that the negative stigma surrounding magic mushrooms, as with almost anything in the debate on drugs, will almost certainly hinder any pragmatic decision on the use of psilocybin in other treatment.