There’s a new medicine for cancer patients - magic mushrooms
They’re a natural hallucinogen beloved of hippies and other far-out types – but magic mushrooms can make a big difference to cancer patients, experts say.
Researchers from John Hopkins University conducted a trial where cancer patients were given psilocybin – the ‘active ingredient’ in magic mushrooms.
The results – for some patients – were electrifying.
Cancer patient Dinah Bazer told Science Alert, ‘I visualised my fear as physical mass in my body. I was bathed in God’s love, and that continued for hours. I really had no other way to describe this incredibly powerful experience.’
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Dr Roland Griffiths of JHU said earlier this year that 92% of patients treated with psilocybin (the active ingredient in ‘shrooms’) saw a reduction in depression and anxiety
Of those, 79% said the effect lasted six months.
Roland Griffiths of John Hopkins University – who is conducting scientific trials of magic mushrooms, and says that the fungi can help people quit smoking – said, ‘This is a potential pathway to clinical approval.’
Griffiths has said that ‘looking inwards’ or ‘tripping’ is perfectly natural.
Previous John Hopkins experiments found that many people find spiritual value in psychedelic journeys – with 67% of Griffiths’ volunteers saying their trips were among the most spiritually significant events of their lives.
