Depression? Anxiety? There’s a psychedelic mushroom for that, apparently.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have identified a compound from hallucinogenic mushrooms to be useful in the treatment of mental disorders, and even as an aid for smoking cessation.

Psilocybin, the active compound in the mushrooms, has been traditionally classified as a Schedule I drug (no known medical benefit). However, researchers are beginning to urge the Food and Drug Administration to reclassify the compound as a Schedule IV, which would raise its status to that of many common sleeping pills, including Ambien.

Legal battles for magic mushrooms

Psilocybin mushrooms are illegal to grow and cultivate in most places, but many European nations are beginning to legalize them as ‘truffles’ (Netherlands) or completely legalized (Jamaica, Bulgaria, Brazil, and more).

Austria is perhaps the most entertaining, with the mushrooms legal to cultivate, so long as they are not intended to be used as drugs.

Should plants that grow naturally be able to be deemed ‘illegal substances’ by the government?

It’s an issue that plagued Native American people, who went to the Supreme Court to fight for the legal rights to use the peyote plant as a tool in sacred rituals. Plants such as salvia, opium poppy, coca leaves, sassafras, and marijuana have had several legal battles for many years.

Advocates wonder why a natural mushroom should be considered illegal, when tequila, a drink that can contribute to irreversible damage to one’s body, and even death, is completely legal — it too comes from a plant.

Of course, research is needed to determine the validity of the claim that mushrooms can treat mental disorders, but this research should be viewed as scientific, not just an entertaining attempt to validate the use of ‘shrooms.

Shifting morals on morels

Matthew Johnson, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins, believes that mushrooms could be used as a tool to bring our generation into “a new era of medicine.”

“The data suggests that psychedelics are powerful behavioral agents,” Johnson stated in a piece by the New York Times.

Until more testing and funding can be secured, it’s unclear how long it will take mushrooms to be recognized for their medicinal properties.

The legalization and shifting attitudes toward marijuana for medical (and recreational) use opened a valuable debate over the legality of natural plants and citizens’ own free will, as well as what should be considered ‘hard’ research.

It’s likely that scientists will be looking at new treatment methods to provide alternatives to opioids, which have created a dangerous epidemic. Many researchers believe that Psilocybin is a great place to start.

We all want drugs that are safer, low cost, and with lower potential for abuse, and Psilocybin mushrooms may be part of the answer —after all, maybe the hippies were on to something.

Article written by Olivia Thompson.