"On a summer morning in 2013, Octavian Mihai entered a softly lit room furnished with a small statue of Buddha, a box of tissues and a single red rose. From an earthenware chalice, he swallowed a capsule of psilocybin, an ingredient found in hallucinogenic mushrooms. Then...
"A single dose of psilocybin, the long-banned active compound in “magic mushrooms,” significantly reduced anxiety, depression and the fear of death among cancer patients for months at a time, according to two studies published Thursday. Eighty people in separate clinical trials at Johns Hopkins University School...
"The doom hung like an anvil over her head. In 2012, a few years after Carol Vincent was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, she was waiting to see whether her cancer would progress enough to require chemotherapy or radiation. The disease had already done a number...
"Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have found that a psychedelic drug can significantly reduce anxiety, depression and other emotional distress in cancer patients. The patients experienced almost immediate relief, which lasted for months, after taking psilocybin, the active hallucinogenic ingredient in "magic...
"Cancer is a brutal disease on both the body and mind. Not only do treatments like chemotherapy take a massive toll, but the emotional side effects can be hard to bear. Depression and anxiety are high among people with cancer, including those in remission. But...
"Patrick Mettes was overcome with frustration. He was anxious. His bile duct cancer seemed to bring him more anguish than his wife, Lisa Callaghan, ever realized, she said at a news conference Wednesday. In search of solace, Mettes volunteered for a study in which he was given...
Two separate studies report trial subjects who received psilocybin got substantial and lasting relief from profound distress. "In findings that could pry open a door closed for nearly half a century, researchers have found that psilocybin — a hallucinogen long used in traditional healing rituals —...
A recent article in OUPblog, the online source for news and commentary from the Oxford University Press, covers changing attitudes towards psychedelics. In “Finding a New Perspective on Psychedelics,” editor Matt Turney notes that “The reputation of these compounds is undergoing rehabilitation, but we can’t...
The Heffter Research Institute is very grateful to acknowledge a generous financial donation from Breaking Convention, the Conference on Psychedelic Consciousness. At the request of Breaking Convention, their donation will be used to support the NYU clinical trial on psilocybin as a treatment for alcohol...
The New Yorker magazine offers a detailed and insightful examination of Erowid, the online clearing house for information about psychoactive substances. Writer Emily Witt visits the rural California home of Earth and Fire Erowid, the couple behind the hugely successful web site that attracts a...
