4-phosphorloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (psilocybin) and methylenedioxymethamfetamine (MDMA), best known for their illegal use as psychedelic drugs, are showing promise as therapeutics in a resurgence of clinical research during the past 10 years. Psilocybin is being tested for alcoholism, smoking cessation, and in patients with advanced cancer with anxiety. MDMA is showing encouraging results as...

Psilocyn and psilocybin can be identified in different stages of developing psilocybe mushrooms. Knowing the various stages of the mushroom development can be useful when receiving evidence from illicit mushroom growing operations. Exhibits from three separate cases were submitted to the drug analysis section of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Forensic Science Laboratory. Each cas...

A number of creative people claim to have benefited from psychotherapy which utilized psychedelic drugs. Actor Cary Grant attributed "a new assessment of life" to LSD (Gaines, 1963). Blues singer Ronnie Gilbert, in 1964, was mired in a deep depressive state from which she found it impossible to break free. In desperation, she entered LSD therapy and, during the following six months, went throug...

BACKGROUND Anecdotal reports suggest that psychedelic agents may relieve symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This modified double-blind study investigated the safety, tolerability, and clinical effects of psilocybin, a potent 5-HT(1A) and 5-HT(2A/2C) agonist, in patients with OCD. METHOD Nine subjects with DSM-IV-defined OCD and no other current major psychiatric disorder partici...

Introduction Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound whose effects have been seen in studies for treatment of depression, anxiety and pain management. Given its structural similarities to 5-hydroxytryptamine, monoamine controlling brain modulation input, preliminary sought test serotonergic interactions psilocybin with headaches. Objectives Explore efficacy as individuals heada...

Introduction Psilocybin is considered a classical psychedelic and increasingly attracting scientific media attention as an alternative approach to the treatment of various mental disorders. Apart from its efficacy, important question tolerability safety psilocybin in general controlled environment. Accurate knowledge drug aspects might be essential for applicability clinical practice adherence....

Introduction: It is a basic principle of the "psychedelic" treatment model that the quality of the acute experience mediates long-term improvements in mental health. In the present paper we sought to test this using data from a clinical trial assessing psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). In line with previous reports, we hypothesized that the occurrence and magnitude of Oceanic...

Psychedelic drugs have a rich and vibrant history as clinical aids for psychiatry. For two decades after the discovery of lysergide (LSD) in the 1940s, psychedelics were extensively studied and clinical progress was good. But research collapsed rapidly in 1966 when LSD was made illegal, and there was a subsequent hiatus of psychedelic research. After 40 years, this pause is now coming to an end...

In 1970, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration passed Controlled Substances Act. This statute classified and banned a variety of drugs including psilocybin, psychoactive component found in Psilocybe Cubensis (also known as "Magic Mushrooms"). Though psilocybin was to possess many medical benefits cause no serious side effects, Act designated it one most dangerous drugs, earning Sche...