Researchers want doctors to be able to prescribe magic mushrooms for depression
The relative safety of magic mushrooms, when compared to other drugs, is incredibly high. Psilocybin comes in last place when you rank drugs in terms of their harm to the individual or society at large.
He also explained that the abuse potential for psilocybin is low. “No one is jonesing for their next [dose of] psilocybin,” he said. That doesn’t mean magic mushrooms have no abuse potential. People have taken magic mushrooms recreationally for decades and they aren’t going to stop now, but unlike cocaine or heroin, psilocybin isn’t a substance most drug users want to spend their evenings and weekends with. “Potential harms include dangerous behavior in unprepared, unsupervised users, and exacerbation of mental illness in those with or predisposed to psychotic disorders,” the study said. “However, scope of use and associated harms are low compared to prototypical abused drugs.” Johnson pointed to scare stories from the 1960s about people getting high on hallucinogens and falling from roofs because they think they can fly, but said those cases are rare. “Far more more people have fallen from heights on alcohol… Nonetheless, people have these accidents.”
Original Article (Motherboard Vice):
Researchers Want Doctors to Be Able to Prescribe Magic Mushrooms for Depression
Artwork Fair Use: Sascha Grosser