Odds are, mostly everyone has heard about psychedelic mushrooms. Whether it’d be from the time your group of friends decided to try and connect with the Earth and ended up talking to the trees or the recent articles about the discovery of the health benefits that they provide. Either way, the stigma behind mushrooms has slowly changed over the years, in a positive direction.
Psychedelic Mushrooms, or magic mushrooms as commonly referred to, are mushrooms that contain psilocybin, a natural compound that causes psychedelic and hallucinogenic reactions. The psilocybin compound is the main factor that causes people to “trip” or experience things they wouldn’t normally experience without. Psilocybin is also classified as an illegal drug and is not accepted in both worlds of traditional medicine or commercial recreation. Although many studies have proven the health benefits that psychedelic mushrooms provide, the mushrooms still hold a very negative stigma and are highly illegal in most of the United States and Canada.
Many research studies have been performed over the past couple of years and have shown many positive effects. The studies have shown the potential to help aid in psychological battles such as depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, quitting smoking, alcohol addiction, cocaine addiction, headaches, and cancer-related or other end-of-life distresses. To be more specific, “…magic mushrooms affect the brain’s prefrontal cortex, part of the brain that regulates abstract thinking, thought analysis, and plays a key role in mood and perception.” These studies have caught the eye of some city and state officials as a potential medical breakthrough. In fact, employees in the Silicon Valley area are practicing microdosing psychedelic mushrooms to “stay young” and boost creativity. Even big names like Steve Jobs, Scott Adams, and Joe Rogan have claimed to have taken mushrooms and have had nothing but positive experiences.
On May 7th, 2019, Denver, Colorado became the nation’s first city to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms. Kevin Matthews, the leader of the “Decriminalize Denver” movement said, “We’re sending a clear signal to the rest of the country that America is ready to talk about psilocybin. We have work to do, we’re ready for it and we couldn’t be happier.” Other cities like Portland, Dallas, Berkeley, and Chicago have also taken steps to decriminalize psychedelics and are following in the footsteps of Denver.
With Denver leading the way and acting as a “test” city so to speak, it’s not long before other cities start to take notice. If you look at what happened with cannabis back in 2012, many cities thought that Denver was crazy, but they proved them wrong. If psychedelic mushrooms prove to have the positive impact in the community, and the city of Denver is able to keep people from abusing the substance, it will be hard for other cities to ignore medical use of psychedelic mushrooms and will undoubtedly follow in the legal footsteps of medical cannabis. With the medical communities in these cities always looking for ways to innovate and find the next big thing, it can’t be long before we all start looking at psychedelics as a serious medical aid.
About the Author
Grant Gallo is currently a marketing intern at Sapphire Risk Advisory Group and student are Nazareth College in Rochester, NY. Grant is a management and marketing major at Nazareth and is also a member of the men’s ice hockey team.