Medical treatments using psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin – derived from certain mushrooms – and LSD faded out in the 1960s when such drugs were made illegal in the United States. The last decade, however, has seen a resurgence of research into their medical properties. Read on to learn the history of their development, what they do to the brain and why they are once more being studied.
The following year, Imperial College London in the United Kingdom opened the world’s first Centre for Psychedelic Research. At the time, Dr Robin Carhart-Harris, its head, said: “Psychedelic therapy holds a great deal of promise for treating some very serious mental health conditions and may one day offer new hope to vulnerable people with limited treatment options.
In a speech on his 100th birthday, Hofmann said: “[LSD] gave me an inner joy, an open-mindedness, a gratefulness, open eyes and an internal sensitivity for the miracles of creation.” Research has shown psilocybin to be at least as effective as common antidepressant drugs in such treatments, and its side effects may be less. Psilocybin may also be effective in combating tobacco addiction.