Psilocybin [magic] mushrooms are now decriminalized in Santa Cruz, California, as this week’s unanimous city council vote makes it the third city in the country to do so. The vote does not legalize the popular psychedelic but categorizes the investigation and pursuit of these drugs as a low priority for local police.

The new ruling, which also legalizes other psychedelic plants such as ayahuasca and ibogaine, presents a modern-day shift from the stigma of tripped out hippies to a class of substances with real therapeutic benefits. The use of psychedelics as a medical device has been studied as early as the 1950’s, but was essentially deadlocked by President Nixon’s Controlled Substances Act in 1970. Testing on psilocybin didn’t resume until 2000 when the FDA relinquished the rights to study the effects of the drug, which has showed signs of benefitting everything from anxiety and depression to trauma and addiction since.

To this point, a recent study of 51 cancer patients at Johns Hopkins University reported “significant decreases in depressed mood and anxiety” after being led through a psilocybin trip, with two-thirds of the participants rating the session on par with the birth of their children as one of the most meaningful experiences of their lives. Read the entire study here.

Please note that self-medicating with these sorts of drugs can be dangerous and are honestly not recommended. The aforementioned sessions are conducted by and under the supervision of trained professionals.

Tags: ayahuasca, drugs, law, mushrooms

Categories: News