The Safety and Efficacy of So-called Magic Mushrooms

These mushrooms may be considered Schedule 1 drugs, but let’s look at how non-toxic and anti-addictive they really are.

Psilocybin-containing mushrooms; photo by author

Many people are wary of mushrooms — of all mushrooms, but particularly the psilocybin-containing so-called magic mushrooms. You’ve likely seen the meme featuring different mushrooms, showing how one can be nutritious and tasty, one can be lethal, and one can give you a life-altering perspective of reality. Fungi are no joke. Mushrooms, the fruiting body of the fungus, are decomposed and have evolved in a symbiotic relationship with humans and plants alike. Want to read more about the evolution and role of fungi? I recommend reading Merlin Sheldrake’s book Entangled Life.

On Leaning Into Our Symbiotic Relationship With Mushrooms

Psilocybin-containing mushrooms, long relegated as “hippy drugs” and stigmatized as “shrooms” that make you “hallucinate,” have been seeing a systematic resurgence in both mainstream and underground culture. Scientific studies and mainstream journalism on the efficacy of psilocybin-containing mushrooms as…