magic mushrooms

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Culinary Diplomacy: What's Janet Yellen Eating in China?

She ate potentially psychedelic mushrooms on her last visit, and all eyes are on this trip

(Newser) - Ever since she ate mushrooms that can have psychedelic effects in Beijing last July, Janet Yellen has united Americans and Chinese in wanting to know what she'll eat next. As the AP reports, now that the US Treasury secretary is back in China this week, having stopped in Guangzhou...

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...

Over 3K Oregonians Want to Trip at Newly Legal Facility

Oregon's first licensed psilocybin service center opened in June

(Newser) - Psilocybin tea, wind chimes, and a tie-dye mattress await those coming to an office suite in Eugene, Oregon, to trip on magic mushrooms. For roughly six hours, adults over 21 can experience what many users describe as vivid geometric shapes, a loss of identity, and a oneness with the universe....

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...

Mountain Rescue Team Comes to Aid of High Hikers

The Lake District mountain rescuers spent 2 hours with the young men

(Newser) - The Lake District is England's biggest national park, and those who explore it can do so knowing that unpaid volunteers are on call to rescue them if they end up in trouble—including, apparently, the kind of trouble that can come from taking magic mushrooms while hiking. CNN reports...

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...

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...

Another City Decriminalizes Magic Mushrooms

Oakland, Calif., follows Denver's lead

(Newser) - Oakland, Calif., has followed Denver's lead in decriminalizing magic mushrooms—but also peyote and ayahuasca. The move came Tuesday after a unanimous vote by the Oakland City Council, which directed law enforcement to stop investigating and prosecuting individuals for possession or use of plant-derived hallucinogens, reports USA Today . Ahead...

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...

The 'Magic' in 'Shrooms Could Really Help You
The 'Magic' in 'Shrooms
Could Really Help You
new study

The 'Magic' in 'Shrooms Could Really Help You

New study says it can serve medicinal purposes

(Newser) - Want to quit smoking or alleviate depression? In a few years you might be taking the psychedelic "magic" in magic mushrooms—if the FDA ever agrees, the New York Times reports. Researchers from John Hopkins University suggest the FDA should reclassify psilocybin—the psychedelic drug in hallucinogenic mushrooms—to...

Study Finds World's Safest Recreational Drug

Magic mushrooms resulted in fewest emergency room visits in 2016

(Newser) - A massive drug survey has labeled hallucinogenic mushrooms as the safest recreational drug in the world—though ensuring you're consuming a psychedelic variety of fungi, rather than some poisonous version, is rather important. This year's Global Drug Survey , with 120,000 participants in 50 countries, found that 0....

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...

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