Hopkins Researchers Want Doctors to Be Able to Prescribe Magic Mushrooms for Depression

 A new push to reclassify psychedelic mushrooms is coming from  researchers at Johns Hopkins University, who have conducted extensive  studies on psychedelic substances in recent years. For roughly 50 years,  psilocybin has been classified as a Schedule I narcotic, which means  that it has a high likelihood of abuse and no medical value. However, recent studies at Hopkins and other facilities have shown  that this substance does have incredible medical value and a very low  risk of addiction. 

As a result of their findings, researchers are now  asking the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to move this  substance from Schedule I to Schedule IV, which would mean that it has a  low potential for abuse and provides medical value. This  reclassification could allow doctors to prescribe mushrooms or derived  compounds in certain situations and could lower the legal penalties as  well. 

A report in The Journal of Psychopharmacology suggested  that psilocybin mushrooms could help long-time smokers kick their  habit. The report sourced a recent John Hopkins study, authored by  Matthew W. Johnson, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral  sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The study  featured a small test sample but is one of a series of studies that are  showing the healing powers of psychedelic compounds.

In 2012, John Hopkins made news in psychedelic research with a study showing that the psychedelic experience can help terminally ill patients come to terms with their own mortality. According to a new study from the Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College London, published in the journal Psychopharmacology,  psychedelic mushrooms tend to make people more resistant to authority.  

They also found the psychedelic experience induced by these mushrooms  also cause people to be more connected with nature. 

Denver, one of the first places in the country to see medical and  legal cannabis, may soon get the chance to decriminalize psychedelic  mushrooms. According to CPR.com,   the advocacy group, Colorado for Psilocybin proposed a legal measure  that would do away with felony charges for people caught in possession  of mushrooms. 

Tyler Williams, one of the leaders of the Psilocybin Decriminalization Initiative said that people should not be jailed for consuming mushrooms.

“I’m a big believer in cognitive liberty, and so whatever people  decide to consume I think is up to them. I think people should be  informed about what they are consuming, and they shouldn’t have to be  afraid of going to jail for that,” Williams said. 

Earlier this year, Williams and numerous other activists representing  different groups attended a public hearing where they laid out their  plan for officials. After the meeting, the city was just a few steps  away from decriminalization. The next step will be for the activists to  get enough signatures on a petition to have the issue up for vote for  this November’s ballot. 

 Last month, it was announced that a startup called Compass Pathways  has received approval from The Food and Drug Administration to develop  treatments for depression, and possibly even pharmaceuticals, with  psilocybin, the active ingredient in psychedelic “magic mushrooms.” Compass Pathways launched in the UK in 2016, thanks to funding from  Peter Thiel. 

While the company is just now receiving approval to run  trials in the US, they were already approved in Canada, the Netherlands  and their base of operations in the UK. According to the company’s website,  the trials will take place across 15 different sites throughout Europe  and North America, and will involve 216 participants. The tests are  expected to begin in the UK by the end of August.