Further promise for magic mushrooms to be used medicinally comes in light of several studies showing great results for how they might be able to treat several illnesses and conditions such as Alzheimer’s, depression and addiction.

The fact alone that this research is being carried out in universities and research institutions across the world shows how far we have come in the acceptance of psychedelics and the vast benefits that could come from them.  Only a decade ago research such as this was unimaginable, but the mentality surrounding psychedelics is changing fast, which is a great thing considering the potential medical breakthroughs that could happen as a result.

One major step that should be noted is the launch by scientists at Johns Hopkins University of a centre for psychedelic research, which has the potential to be a huge catalyst for new research relating to psychedelics, including psilocybin (the drug found in magic mushrooms).  Roland R. Griffiths, psychopharmacologist and professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences and the Department of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has been researching the effects of psilocybin for almost twenty years and between him and his team has published studies in over 60 articles found in scientific journals.  He has also administered the drug to over 350 individuals as a part of his studies.

Griffiths has high hopes for the kind of progress that can be made at this centre, which is the first in America and aims to destigmatise psychedelics to show the positive effects that they can have.  Key research at the centre will focus on using psilocybin to treat addiction, distress caused by life-threatening disease, as well as treatment-resistant depression.

Furthermore, in other institutions, more treatment of depression is being instigated in the form of psilocybin therapy, which is being tested in its treatment of a whole host of psychological and behavioural disorders including depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, nicotine addiction, alcohol addiction, cocaine addiction, cluster headaches and end-of-life psychological distress. 

Depression

Depression has been researched in conjunction with psilocybin more than any other illness, as the FDA approved a “breakthrough therapy” designation which fast-tracked its progress medically, meaning that it could potentially move to a phase III trial sometime soon.

In a small study carried out last year by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers, it was shown that two doses of psilocybin massively reduced symptoms of depression over a four-week period.

Further research by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine claims that the effects seen by psilocybin on depression were four times larger than any traditional antidepressants on the market currently.  This is not least of all because the majority of depression treatments commonly used in daily practice can take weeks or even months to become effective and also might come with a whole host of side effects that patients have to deal with as a result.  Results showed that psilocybin was effective in the majority of participants of a trial headed by Griffiths, which came as a surprise seeing has how depression varies from person to person.

Addiction

In a study carried out by Johns Hopkins University, researchers were able to deduce that dosing psilocybin was significant in improving the participants’ ability to stop smoking for a year-long period afterwards.  A similar result was shown in a separate study done on heavy drinking.

It is generally thought that the reason for the drug’s ability to do this is due to the fact that it removes the participant from their routine and recurring behaviours by showing them a wider view of life.

There are currently trials going on that are testing the drug’s efficacy with cocaine addiction.

Psychological distress

There have been some early studies done with relation to using psilocybin for treating existential anxiety and psychological distress in those who are at the end of life, and it has been found to increase quality of life substantially.

Will FDA approval happen?

The research that has been done already shows highly promising results, but the same question always remains regardless: will psilocybin be approved by the FDA for use?  This is something that is absolutely necessary for any kind of use of the drug.

Laws surrounding shrooms in Canada are changing all the time.  While magic mushrooms themselves are still under prohibition in Canada, psilocybin is named as a controlled substance in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, meaning that medical practitioners can in some situations prescribe it to patients.

This shows that lawmakers are becoming more aware of the medical benefits of psilocybin and looks promising for the future of Canada’s relationship to shrooms.  It is certainly going in a similar direction to that of marijuana, which began with small changes towards its legalisation and progressed from there.

The consensus among lawmakers appears to be that more clinical research must go into the effects of the psychedelic substance before it can be fully decriminalised and then legalised.  More research, however, is being funded all the time, and therefore could simply be a matter of time before we see psilocybin introduced more medicinally.