What about Psychedelics and Psychedelics Use by Using Magic Mushrooms
A poll recently published by Hill-Harris had several interesting findings for us microscopists and mycologists who study psilocybin mushroom spores and study natural substances for psychedelics use and benefits.
The poll indicates that 35% of registered voters in the United States believe that psychedelics, such as psilocybin-containing mushrooms, have a valid medical use—such as aiding patients with treatment-resistant major depression and other disorders.
This, of course, means that 65% of registered voters do not believe that psychedelics have a valid medical use.
How To Use Magic Mushrooms
In today’s entry on The Psilocybe Philosophy, and on how to use magic mushrooms we’ll take a closer look at the poll (since some of the finer details of the demographic breakdown are very relevant) and debate a little over whether the findings are good news or bad news. In our opinion, it’s a little bit of both. Magic Mushrooms are used for PTSD, for therapeutically beneficial purposes, and for medicinal magic mushroom benefits.
We’ve Come a Long Way – Psilocybin is Now Being Discussed and Studied Extensively: Psilocybin and Magic Mushrooms Psilocybe Cubensis Potency
We’ve talked a bit about the psilocybin “dark ages” before—that period of time during which psilocybin research effectively ground to a halt for decades before slowly-but-surely picking up steam. Read our detailed article about psilocybe cubensis potency for a detailed account on mushroom strains and their potency effects.
Timothy Leary Psychedelic Experiments
Here’s the basic rundown: after the western world became aware of “magic mushrooms” thanks to a popular article published in Life Magazine by R. Gordon Wasson detailing his adventures and subsequent psychedelic experiences in a remove mountain village in Mexico, the psychologist Timothy Leary rose to controversial fame thanks to his psychedelic experiments at Harvard University.
He was later ousted from his position, and lawmakers soon outlawed psilocybin in the United States. The United Nations soon followed suit in 1971, and in just a few short years psilocybin was made illegal nearly everywhere, and the decriminalization of magic mushrooms effort continues in cities in the US such as Detroit, Michigan.
One of the key arguments from lawmakers at the time was that psilocybin had no medical use. Proponents of psilocybin knew this to be false, of course, but since the substance was (and is) illegal, studying it to prove otherwise would prove to be incredibly difficult if not impossible. It hasn’t been until comparatively recently, perhaps the last 20 years or so, and especially the last five, that psilocybin has been extensively studied by the medical community.
As those “in the know” would suspect, it has rapidly become quite clear that psilocybin does have many, many benefits.
Psilocybin For Neuroplasty and Rewiring The Brain
Thanks to these studies and the tireless work of psilocybin advocates like the doctor suing the DEA for access to psilocybin for cancer patients, society at large is starting to “wake up” to the benefits of psilocybin for those who need it the most: those suffering from depression, PTSD, obesity, OCD, and other ailments, thanks to the compound’s neuroregenerative properties (see Neuroplasticity Explained: Can Psilocybin Rewire the Brain?).
So, the good news is that least 35% of registered voters have been paying attention. At first, just a third of the voting population seems irritatingly low, but a closer look at the demographics of the poll may shine some hope on the future: a 53% majority of the 18-29 demographic believe that psilocybin does in fact have medical uses.
The Bad News: There’s Clearly Still a Long Way to Go for Widespread Psilocybin Acceptance
As this author was researching this story, it was interesting to see how different news outlets have framed it. You’ll encounter positive-sounding headlines like “over one third of voters believe psilocybin has medical uses” just as often as you’ll see negative, status-quo-enforcing headlines like, “nearly two thirds of Americans scoff at medical psychedelics”.
You’ll also note that manner in which the poll itself phrases the question leads the participant to take the issue less seriously: “Given what you know, do you think psychedelic substances such as ‘magic mushrooms’ have medical uses or not?”
Despite cup half-full or half-empty semantics, the fact remains that psilocybin advocates have a long way to go. However you want to cut it, about 65% of voters don’t think that psilocybin has any medical benefit—they must not have seen all those studies.
But enough of that—We could look at this another way, though: would the 35% figure be anywhere near that high, even a decade ago? Most likely not. In fact, we can use the internet to peer into the past. For example, look at this CBS news report from over 10 years ago that discussed some of the formative work being done at Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and other institutions.
Of particular note from the report is this telling statement:
Despite early positive results, researchers are cognizant of overcoming the negative stereotype often conferred upon the psychedelic movement’s previous incarnation.
Report: Doctors Give Psychedelics Second Look, CBS News, April 2010
We’re edging our way out of the days of “early positive results” and into the days of “this is a known fact, and now we just have to convince voters.”
Stay the course, and in another 10 years the results of the poll we’ve been discussing today could easily be reversed.
New readers may be surprised to learn that psilocybin mushroom spores are legal in most of the United States. Despite the name, mushroom spores contain no psilocybin—the compound only forms when the fungi develops into mycelium and fruiting bodies (mushrooms) in the wild.
Liquid Cultured Spores
However, spores are suspended in a non-nutrient liquid in syringes, which allows anyone to purchase, posses, and study them legally!
For amateur or professional microscopists or mycologists, we offer a wide variety of psilocybin mushroom spores that you can quickly, easily, and discreetly order online through our secure online store for research purposes. We look forward to serving you!