Experiments+and+Studies

= **Experiments and Studies Relating to Psilocybin**  =

Current research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore has found that mushrooms do have a spiritual effect on people who take it (Khamsi, 2006, p.1). Roland Griffiths, a professor of behavioral biology, and his crew created a study to prove that there was a positive side to mushrooms/psilocybin. Griffiths believed that the biological effects of psilocybin had been ignored for to long (Khamsi, 2006, p.1).

Psilocybin is found in about 186 different species of mushrooms. "Psilocybin is a plant alkaloid that can effects the way brain receptors respond to neurotransmitter serotonin" ( Staff, 2008, p.1). Mushrooms that contain psilocybin have been used for hundreds of years for religious and healing purposes ( Staff, 2008, p.1). It is now illegal to sell or have possession of the drug in the United States (Khamsi,2006, p.1).  Griffiths and his crew conducted an experiment in 2006 ( Fox, 2008, p.1 ). In this experiment, Griffiths got together 36 healthy volunteers. These volunteers were well-educated and had never experienced the drug before, or anything of its nature ( Staff, 2008, p.1). The volunteers were warned that they would receive hallucinations and other side effects of the drug. (Khamsi, 2006, p.1).The experiment was quite simple. They gave psilocybin to their 36 volunteers and later asked them how it felt. ( Fox,2008, p.1). All of the volunteers were in a safe setting and under supervision. The research teams warns that if the mushrooms were given and used in a different condition, the responses could have been unsafe (Staff, 2008, p.1).

22 of the 36 volunteers later expressed their experience to Griffiths as a ‘mystical and spiritual’. Most of them said that it was a positive time in their lives( Fox,2008, p.1).

Fourteen months later, as part as the experiment, Griffiths and his crew checked up on the volunteers. When asked about their psilocybin experience they said that the experience “ increased their sense of well-being and life satisfaction.” ( Fox, 2008,p.1). Griffiths thinks that these findings may offer help to treat anxious or depressed patients. The research suggests that the experience during the sessions could help treat cancer- related fears (Fox,2008, p.1), along with possibly treating for drug dependence. ( Staff, 2008, p.1).

Though many of the volunteers reported a positive ‘mystical and spiritual experience’ others said that during many of the sessions they felt a strong fear and anxiety. Checking up on the volunteers fourteen months later, none reported any permanent harmful effects. ( Fox,2008, p.1).

Griffiths experiment made some important discoveries, but there is still not change years later in the way mushrooms are viewed in the legal world.