At One Up Trefoils Mushroom point, Lee was taking eight different prescription medications, all of them trying to help him cope. In his lowest moment, on a night when he was in the depths of an addiction to painkillers, he said, he contemplated driving his car into the median of a Chicago freeway at 140 mph. He was willing to do anything to escape the hell he felt trapped in. The researchers have published their findings in the Journal of Adolescent Health. The research team included Farah, Abigail Kerns, Austin Murray and Holstege.

Most psilocybin research has been conducted in adults in the 30s and 40s. So it’s unclear whether psilocybin could have a similar effect on adults under 26. Beginning in 2019, some states have begun decriminalizing the psychedelic drug, making it possible for more research to be conducted on its possible medicinal value.

O’Farrill runs a master’s and doctoral degree program affiliated with the National School of Psychologists and Experts of Mexico where his approximately dozen students listen to Indigenous guest speakers talk about traditional medicine. He schedules group therapies in his home, a two-story house where a large container on his kitchen counter has powder from lion’s mane, a non-psychedelic mushroom, that he takes with his morning coffee. Indigenous healers have led his students through ceremonies with mushrooms, peyote and bufo, the smoked secretions of a Sonoran desert toad. In the mid-20th century, psilocybin was classified as a Schedule I substance in the U.S. — which put the kibosh on research. But interest in scientific research on mental health and psilocybin was rekindled in the 1990s. Zach says some people taking MCP can encounter difficult or challenging experience which will most likely be amplified if mixed with alcohol or other drugs.

Canada and the US have been slowly expanding access to psychedelic substances. In Canada, most psychedelics are illegal based on their classifications under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, with a few exceptions. The exact charges for possessing magic mushrooms range from state level felony to first degree felony, depending on the amount of the drug in a person’s possession, as well as if the police believe there was intent to sell or distribute. Commercial cultivars, on the other hand, lack diversity across their genomes, the researchers report. Humans likely had a hand in that, although many questions remain about our history of cultivating magic mushrooms, including why genetic diversity fell so far.

People have been using mushrooms that contain psilocybin for thousands of years. Researchers theorize that the substance was used to bring about a mystical state during rituals. Today, people use the mushrooms in the hopes of having a unique, interesting, enlightening, and/or spiritual experience. Psychedelic drugs have potential therapeutic benefits for treating mental health conditions, such as depression and PTSD. They also appear to help reduce anxiety and improve mood, with minimal adverse effects.