psilocybin mushrooms

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As Shroom Seizures Spike, Businesses Are Unfazed

273% increase in US seizures over 5 years tied to increased availability of the 'new glass of wine'

(Newser) - At a luxury resort in British Columbia, guests swim in a saltwater pool and trip on magic mushrooms. It might not be entirely legal, but as Journeymen Collective co-founder Rob Grover tells the Wall Street Journal , "we don't give it any energy." Use of psilocybin, the psychoactive...

Young People Are Really Into Their Shrooms These Days

From 2018 to 2021, young adults' use of hallucinogens nearly doubled

(Newser) - Not in several decades have young adults in the United States done so much tripping on hallucinogens. That's the upshot of a new study that found the use of such mind-altering drugs nearly doubled from 2018 to 2021. According to research published in the journal Addiction , based on stats...

One State Is Training Magic Mushroom 'Facilitators'

Oregon, set to be the first state to offer controlled use of psilocybin, is training students

(Newser) - At a woodsy retreat center in Oregon, some 30 men and women are seated or lying down, masks covering their eyes and listening to serene music. They're among the first crop of students being trained on how to accompany patients tripping on psilocybin, as Oregon prepares to become the...

Can Synthetic Psilocybin Compare to Real Thing?
What's Ahead in the World
of Magic Mushrooms
LONGFORM

What's Ahead in the World of Magic Mushrooms

Salon explores the research into psilocybin and the 'entourage effect'

(Newser) - Shrooms have made science and medical headlines off and on since the 1990s and especially since 2000, when the US government granted regulatory approval to resume research in psychedelics. The funky fungus—or at least the chemical compound psilocybin—has been hailed for its potential to help remedy everything from...

Can Magic Mushrooms Help Heal Spinal Injuries?
Can Magic Mushrooms
Help Heal Spinal Injuries?
longform

Can Magic Mushrooms Help Heal Spinal Injuries?

It's all about neuroplasticity

(Newser) - In 2014, Jim Harris broke nine vertebrae and was paralyzed from the chest down following a snowkiting accident in Chile. After surgery and months of physical therapy, he recovered enough to hobble around with a walker, but he still couldn’t get his right hamstring to "wake up."...

Trial Raises Hope for Psilocybin as Depression Treatment

Regulatory approval could come 'potentially within a few years' time'

(Newser) - One or two doses of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, has been found to help people with cancer , alcohol problems , anxiety, and depression , and now those with a severe, treatment-resistant form of depression, according to researchers. A phase 2 randomized, double-blind clinical trial involving 233 people with treatment-resistant...

FBI: Man Took 'Shrooms, Then Had Quite a Trippy Flight

Cherruy Loghan Sevilla is accused of assaulting crew, breaking into bathroom on United plane

(Newser) - There are bad trips, and then there are bad drug trips, and may never the two converge. For one man on a United Airlines flight last week, however, that's apparently what happened, and he's now facing charges of assault and interfering with flight crew. An affidavit filed in...

She Was a Heavy Drinker Until She Got 2 Doses of Psilocybin
She Was a Heavy Drinker.
Then She Ingested Psilocybin
in case you missed it

She Was a Heavy Drinker. Then She Ingested Psilocybin

Small study suggests the 'magic mushrooms' psychedelic may help heavy drinkers quit

(Newser) - The compound in psychedelic mushrooms helped heavy drinkers cut back or quit entirely in the most rigorous test of psilocybin for alcoholism. More research is needed to see if the effect lasts and whether it works in a larger study. The AP notes many who took a dummy drug instead...

Lawyer: Drugs Tell Different Story in Peter Spencer's Death

Paul Jubas: Shooter said they took mushrooms, but psilocin wasn't detected in shooter's blood

(Newser) - Peter Spencer was shot dead by a co-worker during a a Pennsylvania camping trip last December; two weeks ago, Venango County District Attorney Shawn White announced no charges would be brought, saying that based on the evidence and Pennsylvania's "stand your ground" laws, prosecutors would be unable to...

3 Canadians Get Permission to Use 'Magic Mushrooms'

They all have mental health conditions, waited up to 283 days for a decision

(Newser) - Psilocybin mushrooms, sometimes called "magic" or psychedelic mushrooms, are banned in Canada with rare exceptions made for medical purposes. Three such exemptions have recently been granted, the Vancouver Sun reports. Three people with mental health conditions now have legal access to psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, a development that nonprofit TheraPsil, which...

Rhode Island Voters to Decide on State's Name

Ballot measures also cover flag, minimum wage

(Newser) - More than 120 ballot measures could transform state policy this election. In two of those cases, the topic is abortion. In Colorado, Proposition 115 seeks to block abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy unless to save the life of the mother. That's the sole exception that would be provided,...

Psilocybin May Ease Anxiety for a Surprisingly Long Time

Cancer patients still feeling positive effects almost 5 years later

(Newser) - About five years ago, a study found that cancer patients who took one dose of the compound found in magic mushrooms had much less anxiety. A followup study suggests the psilocybin's effect is still in place, reports NBC News . The study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology suggests that psilocybin...

Denver Becomes First US City to Decriminalize Magic Mushrooms

'Our victory here is a clear signal to the rest of the country'

(Newser) - Bring on the "Mile High City" jokes: Denver's elections division says voters have narrowly approved the decriminalization of hallucinogenic "magic" mushrooms. Authorities say that according to unofficial final results, Initiated Ordinance 301—also known as the Denver Psilocybin Mushroom Initiative—was approved by 50.5% to 49....

US City May Be First to Decriminalize 'Magic Mushrooms'

Denver will vote Tuesday

(Newser) - Tuesday's a big day in Denver—a day that could end with the decriminalization of a Schedule 1 drug. The AP reports residents are headed to the polls to cast their vote on whether to decriminalize psilocybin, an illegal drug found in "magic mushrooms" that has been shown...

Mushrooms, Pot, Making Out Don't Mix for Brothers

It all happened in front of an Indianapolis dumpster, say police

(Newser) - Sorry, Philly—Indianapolis gets to be the City of Brotherly Love this week. That's thanks to Timothy Batz, 21, and his 24-year-old sibling, Noah Batz, both accused of involvement in a chaotic story featuring drugs, nudity, assault, and an intense makeout session in front of a dumpster, WISH and...

Dose of Magic Mushrooms Had Big Effect on Cancer Patients

A single dose of psilocybin in a controlled setting appears to reap long-term benefits

(Newser) - Hallucinogens are back on the table—at least when it comes to clinical trials. Hundreds of trials in the 1940s and 1950s studied their effects, but since their ban in the late '60s the research all but stopped, reports the New York Times . Nowadays, though, drugs like MDMA (think...

They Had Been Depressed for 18 Years. Then They Took Mushrooms

Study volunteers tripped while accompanied by music and psychiatrists

(Newser) - Far out. Researchers in the UK dosed 12 severely depressed volunteers with psilocybin—the active ingredient in magic mushrooms—and found it improved their condition for as long as three months, the Guardian reports. "That is pretty remarkable," one researcher tells Nature . The study—published Tuesday in Lancet ...

Single Dose of Magic Mushroom Ingredient Did Months of Good

When given to patients with life-threatening cancer

(Newser) - People who receive life-threatening cancer diagnoses and find themselves battling depression and anxiety might consider munching on magic mushrooms, and that's not coming from a snake oil salesman. Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine announced last week at the annual meeting of the American College of...

Psychedelic Drugs Don't Break Your Brain
 Psychedelic Drugs 
 Don't Break Your Brain 
STUDIES SAY

Psychedelic Drugs Don't Break Your Brain

Use may actually reduce risk of some conditions

(Newser) - Are "acid casualties" a myth? While using LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, or mescaline carries the risk of a bad trip, there doesn't seem to be any increased risk of psychosis or other mental-health conditions, according to a pair of new studies. Researchers using National Survey on Drug Use and...

Scientists Decry Worst Case of Censorship Since Galileo

... and it involves magic mushrooms

(Newser) - It's the kind of claim that makes your ears perk up: A group of scientists yesterday came out swinging against what one described as "the worst case of scientific censorship since the Catholic Church banned the works of Copernicus and Galileo." More colorful still, it involves magic...

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