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F'ing Hippies

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"... Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have shown the active agent in magic mushrooms can induce a mystical or spiritual experience and prompt positive changes in behaviour and attitude lasting for months.

The study, published this week in the journal Psychopharmacology, is believed to be the first of its kind since the 1960s. Until then, compounds of the drugs had been used in psychotherapy but the practice fell into disrepute as their abuse led to severe side effects.

The Johns Hopkins study involved 36 healthy, educated adults. Most were middle-aged and had no family history of psychosis or bipolar disorder.

At two eight-hour drug sessions held at two-month intervals, they were given either the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active agent in magic mushrooms, or a placebo.

More than 60 per cent had a mystical experience when given psilocybin. More than two-thirds rated it in the top five most meaningful and spiritual experiences in their lives, likening it to the birth of a child or the death of a parent. One in three said it was their single most spiritually significant experience.

However, one-third reported significant adverse reactions, such as fear and paranoia."

* The Age

* CTC.ca

* Japan Times

* Wallstreet Journal

Comments

ya know, I'm not sure if this is the proper thing to admit, but I've consumed more than my share of those things in my life...now i don't feel THAT bad about it...now I wish I could say the same for all the LSD I've eaten...

Say, aren't there supposed to be some sort of flashback-ey things associated with psychotropic substances? If that's the case, I have more than a few coming to me...


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