here is where i did a bit of research. your guys' words are making me more cautious, though.
"The effects of psilocybin are roughly similar to those of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), peyote and mescaline. The dosage may vary among mushroom types, but the potency of psilocybin is about 1/200th that of LSD."
(Title: `Shrooms,' a.k.a. psilocybin. By: Seymour, Richard B., Brown University Psychopharmacology Update, 10685308, May97, Vol. 8, Issue 5
Database: Academic Search Premier)
"For many of them, the mundane certainty of being a skin-bounded person with an individual existence melted away. In its place arose a sense of merging with an ultimate reality where all things exist in a sacred, unified realm. Participants felt intense joy, peacefulness, and love during these experiences. At times, though, some became fearful, dreading unseen dangers.
The pills that enabled these mystical excursions contained psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called magic mushrooms that some societies have used for centuries in religious ceremonies."
"However, the excesses of researchers such as the late Harvard University psychologist Timothy Leary, as well as widespread illicit use of psychedelic drugs, led to legal restrictions that halted most psychedelic research.
Now, the scientific and clinical promise of drugs such as psilocybin can be fully explored, in Griffiths' view. "With careful preparation, you can safely and fairly reliably occasion a mystical experience using psilocybin that may lead to positive changes in a person," he says. "Our finding is an early step in what we hope will be scientific work that helps people."'
"None [of the volunteers in the study] cited any previous use of psychedelic drugs. Each reported at least occasional participation in religious or spiritual activities, including church services, prayer, and meditation."
"Feelings of extreme fear or dread emerged in 11 of the 36 volunteers after taking psilocybin..."
"Positive effects of psilocybin seemed to last beyond the sessions. ...Interviews with family members, friends, and coworkers of each volunteer confirmed the reports of long-lived improvements in mood, attitudes, and behavior."
here's something i found interesting:
"Schuster, the former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, calls the treatment of drug addiction with psychedelic substances "entirely conceivable."'
"Even ardent proponents of psychedelic-drug research acknowledge that, after lying dormant for decades, the field faces many unanswered questions."
(Title: CHEMICAL ENLIGHTENMENT. By: Bower, Bruce, Science News, 00368423, 9/30/2006, Vol. 170, Issue 14
Database: Academic Search Premier)
chibacochoke
Posted: 04 Oct 00:40