A Missouri Senate committee recently approved Psilocybin (magic mushroom) therapy for veterans in a new bill. Limited use of the hallucinogenic drug may also soon be allowed in Utah. In Oregon, magic mushroom use is already legal. It’s a trend growing almost as quickly as the fungi itself.
Microdosing magic mushrooms is even a flourishing fad among moms, according to an ABC News report.
“It was, like, the most beautiful, confirming, joyful experience I’d really ever had,” Colorado mom Tracey Tee told ABC News of her first experience on mushrooms at the age of 44.
“I guess, relief might be one word that everyone could, like, universally understand. Like, your mood might change to a place where you feel more stable and more in a place of stasis.”
It’s not all peace, love and happiness, however.
Psilocybin, aometimes brewed in tea or added to other foods to mask its bitter flavor, can cause nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness and lack of coordination, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
“The psychological consequences of psilocybin use include hallucinations and an inability to discern fantasy from reality,” the administration reported. “Panic reactions and a psychotic-like episode also may occur, particularly if a user ingests a high dose.”
Users can also overdose on the drug, leading to longer and more intense hallucinogenic episodes, psychosis and possibly death. It’s effects are considered similar to mescaline or peyote. In much of the country — including Georgia — it remains a schedule I substance.
In Colorado, where magic mushrooms are decriminalized, Tee runs the private, community-based platform “Moms on Mushrooms” to destigmatize and promote safe use of psychedelics.
“I get really frustrated when people say to me, ‘Oh, well, like, mushrooms are, you know, ‘mommy’s new little helper,’” Tee said. “That is not what microdosing is. Microdosing is mommy is present and aware and showing up, maybe for the first time ever.”
Microdosing psychedelics is a growing fad, but scientific evidence to prove its safety and efficacy is lacking. The practice involves taking a fraction of the regular dose needed to “trip” on a given hallucinogenic.
“Does microdosing work? In short, the jury is still out,” Harvard Medical School instructor and cannabis specialist Peter Grinspoon, MD, reported to Harvard Health Publishing in 2022. “Some studies indicate a very real and significant benefit from microdosing, whereas others are much less convincing and show little to no benefit.”
Tee said she still sees “a lot of fear” around the use of psychedelics, but “what I’ve really come to realize is that it’s the intention and the why in understanding why you do it.”
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