The hallucinogen in the "magic mushrooms" of the 1960s can produce terror, paranoia and schizophrenia, but it can also spark a religious and mystical experience that leaves the user feeling kinder and happier, Johns Hopkins University scientists reported today.
In a federally funded study, Hopkins researchers gave 36 volunteers pills containing psilocybin, a hallucinogen occurring naturally in some species of wild mushrooms. The volunteers then slipped on eye covers, put on headphones playing classical music and followed instructions to "look inward."
Afterward, many reported an altered state of mind similar to experiences recorded over the centuries by religious faithful whose numbers have included Buddhist monks, Sufi whirling dervishes and Christian saints.
The experiment was one of the first of its kind since research on hallucinogens ground to a halt in a backlash against the "turn on, tune in, drop out" drug culture of the late 1960s.
Scientists say the work could signal a loosening of long-standing restrictions on research into the effects of psilocybin and similar compounds such as MDMA, the psychedelic drug often referred to as Ecstasy.
"It opens up this whole adventure in neuroscience to chart brain functions during mystical experiences," said Roland R. Griffiths, a professor of behavioral biology and neurology who led the study.
The government wants to learn more about the neurological underpinnings of addiction, particularly among vulnerable adolescents, said David Shurtleff, director of basic neuroscience and behavioral research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which funded the study.
"There has been a sea change in how we look at drug addiction and how it occurs in the brain," he said. "We can now study the brain in more detail."
Although Hopkins researchers said psilocybin might one day be used to treat drug addiction, depression and anxiety, Shurtleff cautioned that the government considers it a dangerous drug with no medical applications.
Among other reactions to the drug - some unpleasant - some study participants reported feelings of joy and peace, and a sense of transcending time and space.
They often described their experiences in paradoxical terms. But like their predecessors a generation earlier in experiments during the 1950s and 1960s, many called it one of the most sacred spiritual moments of their lives.
