Pubdate: Fri, 01 Sep 2006 Source: Johns Hopkins Magazine (MD Edu) Contact: 2006 Johns Hopkins Magazine Website: http://www.jhu.edu/~jhumag/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4260 Author: Dale Keiger Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/psilocybin Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/magic+mushrooms Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hallucinogens.htm (Hallucinogens) RESEARCH: YES, THERE'S MAGIC IN THOSE MUSHROOMS For years, Roland R. Griffiths had heard about the profound spiritual experiences of people who had ingested psilocybin, a hallucinogen that, if you came of age in the 1960s, you might recall as "magic mushrooms." Anthropologists had described, sometimes rapturously, the effects of psilocybin, but Griffiths, a Johns Hopkins professor of psychiatry and behavioral biology, was skeptical. He knew of little rigorous clinical research in which psilocybin had been administered under appropriate laboratory conditions. After completing his own carefully constructed study of the drug, he is skeptical no more. Griffiths' research, published in July by the journal Psychopharmacology, found that psilocybin did, indeed, bring about profound mystical experiences in his test subjects, who had been selected in part because they already engaged in spiritual practices. The study found that 61 percent of its subjects, 22 out of 36, reported phenomena that met the psychiatric criteria for "complete mystical experience." Seventy-one percent rated it as among the five most spiritually significant experiences of his or her life, and 33 percent called it the most significant. Two months later, 79 percent of subjects reported they still experienced moderately or greatly increased feelings of well-being or life satisfaction after the psilocybin. Only 11 percent, 4 out of 36, reported mystical experiences after ingesting the control drug. The Hopkins research team took extraordinary measures to ensure the safety of the participants and the rigor of the study, screening volunteers for physical and mental health, especially personal or family histories of psychotic or bipolar disorders. One of their biggest concerns was that expectancy would distort the study's results. There is wide belief among scientists that whatever one expects of a hallucinogen plays a large role in the actual response, so the Hopkins team selected volunteers who had no previous history with hallucinogens, and thus no expectations beyond what the researchers had an ethical duty to tell them. The scientists also went to elaborate lengths to prevent both the volunteers and the study's monitors from knowing whether the subjects had ingested psilocybin or the control drug, methylphenidate hydrochloride, better known as Ritalin. Volunteers underwent two sessions, one for each drug. At around nine in the morning, the subject would take either the psilocybin or the methylphenidate -- the sequence was randomly and blindly assigned -- then recline on a sofa in a room outfitted to resemble a living room. The subject was encouraged to use an eye mask to block visual distractions, and headphones that played classical music. Two monitors stayed in the room to record the subject's responses and provide reassurance should he or she become frightened or anxious. The methylphenidate was used as the control drug because it is safe, the onset and duration of its subjective effects are similar to those of psilocybin, and it has not been found to induce mystical experiences. The volunteers knew they had been administered something but could not discern which drug. Each session, conducted about eight weeks apart, lasted seven or eight hours. The subjects filled out several questionnaires and discussed with the monitors what they had experienced. Two months later, each volunteer submitted to detailed interviews again, and a one-year review is underway. Rigorous scientific study of hallucinogens has been rare, after the excesses, bad science, and legal difficulties of the 1960s, says Griffith. "If you think about it, from a standpoint of science it's pretty shocking. For purely cultural and societal reasons, we took this interesting class of compounds and put them on the shelf for 40 years." He says this new work opens intriguing avenues of research. What happens, neurologically, when someone has this sort of profound mystical experience? Could hallucinogens have clinical applications for dealing with the anxiety or depression that can accompany mortal conditions like cancer? Could carefully controlled application of hallucinogens be beneficial for drug or alcohol rehab? Griffith stresses that psychotropic agents like psilocybin are dangerous. If people already have psychiatric problems, hallucinogens can tip them into psychotic conditions. People also can panic and hurt themselves in response to these drugs. Even in the study's safe environment, 30 percent of the volunteers reported moments of significant fear. Says Griffith, "It would be tragic in my view if this work led to an increase in the unsupervised recreational abuse of these compounds." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake