More than a year after they took the hallucinogen found in "magic mushrooms," volunteers in a Johns Hopkins study rated the experience as one of the most meaningful and spiritually important of their lives, researchers reported today.
The results suggest that hallucinogenic compounds, long considered taboo after widespread abuse in the late 1960s, represent both an untapped resource to help people cope with trauma, and a scientific tool for exploring human spirituality, the authors said.
The study was one of the first of its kind since federal authorities banned research on hallucinogens more than four decades ago.
"It's the Rip Van Winkle effect," said Roland R. Griffiths, a professor of behavioral biology and neurology at Hopkins who led the study. "These drugs are now available for scientific study. There's a lot to do, and that's very exciting."
Participants took psilocybin, the active ingredient in some species of wild mushrooms, then lay down, closed their eyes and slipped on headphones as they listened to classical music and followed instructions to "look inward."
Of the 36 who participated, more than 60 percent reported a significant increase in life satisfaction and positive behavior after 14 months, and 67 percent rated it as one of the five most spiritually significant experiences of their lives.
"When I felt the substance take hold, it was a powerful thing," said Dede Osborn, 66, of Providence, R.I., who volunteered when she lived in Washington.
Griffiths warned that the salubrious findings were not a license to take such drugs outside of the lab.
"These compounds may provide something positive," he said, "but they're not something that can be toyed with. They can lead readily to fearful responses that lead to panic. People can end up doing harm to themselves, including suicidal behavior."
For those reasons, the federal government places psilocybin in its most restricted class of drugs - along with LSD, marijuana and heroin. David Shurtleff, director of basic neuroscience and behavior research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said NIDA funded the study to better understand the substances' neurological effects.
Hallucinogens alter the chemical balance in the brain's serotonin system, which plays a role in the brain's reaction to many addictive substances, including alcohol, nicotine, heroin and cocaine.
