The Life Changing Effects of

Magic Mushrooms and Why

the Government Keeps this
from You
By Justin Gardner on June 21, 2015

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The pursuit of knowledge and advancement of medical research are among the many
victims of the War on Drugs. Just as marijuana prohibition is now being dismantled
under the juggernaut of reason, so too will the prohibition of psychedelics.

For thousands of years, cultures around the world have explored the mystical
experience provided by psychedelic substances, using mescaline, ayahuasca, and
magic mushrooms for religious ceremony and healing purposes.
In the 1940s, western medicine began realizing the potential for psychedelics to treat
addiction and psychiatric disorders. Tens of thousands of people were treated
effectively, and psychedelic drugs were on the fast track to becoming mainstream
medicine. But the beast of oppression reared its ugly head.
In 1967 and 1970, the UK and US governments cast all psychedelic substances into the
pit of prohibition. People were waking up to the fact that governments intended to keep
the world in a state of war, and that governments were working to keep the populace
sedated under a cloak of consumerism. The collective mind expansion of that era came
to a screeching halt under the boot and truncheon.
Now, as people share information globally, instantaneously, on a scale unstoppable by
the state, we are resuming the advancement of medical research on psychedelic
substances. Scientists are challenging the irrational classification of psychedelics as
class A (UK) or schedule 1 (US) substances, characterized as having no medical use
and high potential for addiction.

But no evidence indicates that psychedelic drugs are habit forming; little
evidence indicates that they are harmful in controlled settings; and much
historical evidence shows that they could have use in common psychiatric
disorders, says James Rucker, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and
Neuroscience
The hurdles created from the baseless Schedule 1, Class A prohibition make research
extremely difficult. It can take two years to get the necessary license for trials, and
everyone involvedthe manufacturer, the hospital, the researcherhas to have this
license. The drug must be locked in a safe and bolted to a wall in a locked room within
another locked room, as if its some kind of dangerously toxic material. Prohibition also
makes procurement ten times more expensive, making funding more difficult and
pharmaceutical companies uninterested in making the precise products needed for
study.
Despite all this, modern research is showing once again that psychedelics can treat
disorders such as depression, anxiety, and addiction. The drug of choice for clinical

studies is psilocybinthe active ingredient in magic mushroomswhich is not as

strong and long-lasting as LSD or mescaline.
A clinical trial carried out by Tony Bossis and Stephen Ross at New York University in
2014 showed astounding results for advanced cancer patients suffering from anxiety.
According to Ross, cancer patients receiving just a single dose of psilocybin
experienced immediate and dramatic reductions in anxiety and depression,
improvements that were sustained for at least six months.
{The patients} were saying things like I understand love is the most powerful force on
the planet, or I had an encounter with my cancer, this black cloud of smoke. People
who had been palpably scared of deaththey lost their fear. The fact that a drug given
once can have such an effect for so long is an unprecedented finding. We have never
had anything like it in the psychiatric field.
Roland Griffiths and Katherine MacLean at Johns Hopkins carried out studies prior to
this, finding that psilocybin brought about mystical experiences in subjects. The
completeness of this experience (according to the Pahnke-Richards Mystical
Experience Questionnaire) closely tracked improvements in personal well-being, life
satisfaction, openness, and positive behavior change for up to 14 months after the
experience.
Griffiths also conducted a study using psilocybin to treat smoking addiction, with striking
results. 80% of the subjects remained abstinent for six months after treatment, a far
better success rate than any other existing nicotine-replacement therapy. One subject
said, Smoking seemed irrelevant, so I stopped.
An analysis of trials from the 60s and 70s showed that LSD helped people overcome
alcohol addiction as successfully as any treatment to date.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is helping to understand the
mechanisms of how psychedelics can treat addiction and depression. Stimulation of
serotonin 2A receptors by psychedelics decreases activity in certain areas of the brain,
especially the default mode network (DMN) which is involved in our ingrained thought
patterns and behaviors. Decreasing DMN stimulation can allow people to break free
from destructive brain patterns.

An exhaustive survey carried out by Johns Hopkins Medicine supports the conclusions
of clinical research, finding that A history of psychedelic drug use is associated with
less psychological distress and fewer suicidal thoughts, planning and attempts
Fascinating research using fMRI shows that, under the influence of psilocybin, the brain
enters a pattern of activity similar to the dream state. Primitive areas of the brain linked
to emotions, memory and arousal become more synchronized, while higher-level
thinking and the sense of self become unsynchronized.
After 40 years, it appears that another brick in the wall of prohibition is beginning to
crumble in the face of science and logic. Eminent schools of medicine, along with
organizations like the Heffter Research Institute and the Beckley Foundation, are
challenging oppression and bringing psychedelics back into mainstream medicine.
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/life-changing-effects-magic-mushroomsgovernment/#E2CpvbBKrm4GeO3q.99

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/life-changing-effects-magic-mushroomsgovernment/#ld62TAUfbTzGCjJE.99