It’s an exciting time for psychedelics. For the first time in about five decades, the U.S. government has funded research into psychedelics. The funds will be used by three universities: New York University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The goal of the grant is to study psilocybin as a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of addiction.
Read also: Give your health a boost with Lion’s Mane mushroom capsules
Special benefits
Psychedelics have been classified as illegal substances in the United States for decades, effectively bringing most research on them to a standstill. Despite this ongoing illegality, many people still took a risk and, thanks to practices such as“microdosing” or full-blown magic mushroom trips, experienced countless benefits such as improved mental health or enhanced moods that they claim they couldn’t obtain through drugstores or pharmacies.
The renewed public interest in psychedelics and the claims about their potential benefits have ushered in a new era of research into these remarkable substances (about which Dutch-Smart readers already know quite a lot).The federal grant was awarded by the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse to thoroughly study this topic, so they can provide more insight into how it can help people struggling with addiction.
Read also: Mike Tyson invests his capital in psychedelic research
Can magic mushrooms help with smoking addiction?
According to Johns Hopkins University, it will lead the three-year study in collaboration with the other two institutions. The universities will simultaneously conduct their own parts of the research and evaluate whether psilocybin could be suitable as an addiction treatment for smokers. The grant provides nearly $4 million in funding for the study, which the universities say will include a “diverse pool of participants,” made possible in part because the research will take place across multiple states.
The study’s principal investigator, Matthew Johnson, Ph.D., first began evaluating psilocybin as a potential smoking cessation aid 13 years ago, according to the university, including a pilot study published in 2014 that yielded promising results. Of particular interest is existing research showing that psilocybin may be significantly more effective in helping smokers quit compared to existing treatment options already available.
Read also: What you need to know before your first magic mushroom or magic truffle trip
Safe research
“The historical significance of this grant is monumental. We knew it was only a matter of time before the NIH would fund this work, because the data is so compelling and because this work has been shown to be safe. Psilocybin has very real risks, but these risks are fully mitigated in controlled settings through screening, preparation, monitoring, and aftercare,” said Johnson. In other words: don’t try this therapy at home!
