WASHINGTON:
The "spiritual" effects of psilocybin from so-called sacred mushrooms last for
more than a year and may offer a way to help patients with fatal diseases or
addictions, US researchers reported on Tuesday.
The researchers also said
their findings show there are safe ways to test psychoactive drugs on willing
volunteers, if guidelines are followed.
In 2006, Roland Griffiths of
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues gave psilocybin
to 36 volunteers and asked them how it felt. Most reported having a "mystical"
or "spiritual" experience and rated it positively.
More than a year later, most
still said the experience increased their sense of well-being or life
satisfaction, Griffiths and colleagues report in the Journal of
Psychopharmacology.
"This is a
truly remarkable finding," Griffiths said in a statement. "Rarely in
psychological research do we see such persistently positive reports from a
single event in the laboratory."