Researchers found a sharp rise in calls to US poison centers about magic mushrooms coincided with their decriminalization in several US cities and states.
The Maya used mirrors as channels for supernatural communication. In this image, a supernatural creature speaks into a cracked, black mirror.
K2929 from the Justin Kerr Maya archive, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University, Washington, D.C.
Change in the brain usually comes with plenty of effort over time. Neuroscientists are working to understand how psychedelic drugs provide a shortcut that seems to rely on existing brain systems.
Getting high to get spiritual insight isn’t a new pursuit.
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A scholar of religion who is writing a book on sacred drugs explains how today’s ‘psychedelic renaissance’ reflects a millennia-long history of using intoxicants to seek insight and connection.
Freud doing cocaine. Psychologist William James experimenting with nitrous oxide. A new history tells of the Romantic rebels who first sampled psychoactive substances.
There are some possible health issues with the drugs, including cardiovascular risks.
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The early research suggests the drugs might be effective for some conditions. But scientists have safety concerns.
Psychedelics are being held up as a potential solution to the growing need for mental health treatment. But, magic mushrooms are not magic bullets.
(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Alberta’s new policy on psychedelic-assisted therapy for mental illness may set a precedent that moves Canadians one step closer to accepting psychedelics as medicinal substances.
Ayahuasca brew.
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Pinpointing the molecular targets behind the subjective effects of psychedelic drugs could help clinicians and researchers better treat psychiatric conditions.