Psychedelic drug has long effects, study finds

Published 9:00 pm Monday, July 10, 2006

NEW YORK – People who took an illegal drug made from mushrooms reported profound mystical experiences that led to behavior changes lasting for weeks – all part of an experiment that recalls the psychedelic 1960s.

Many of the 36 volunteers rated their reaction to a single dose of the drug, called psilocybin (SILL-oh-SY-bin), as one of the most meaningful or spiritually significant experiences of their lives. Some compared it to the birth of a child or the death of a parent.

But don’t try this at home, warned Roland Griffiths of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, the study’s lead author. “Absolutely don’t.”

The experience terrified nearly a third of the participants. “In extreme cases, that (feeling) can be tainted by paranoia, that they are going crazy, that they are not going to get back,” Griffiths said.

“These are dangerous compounds,” cautioned David Shurtleff, director of basic neuroscience and behavioral research at the National Institute of Drug Abuse, which funded the study. “Although they showed some interesting effects, there are many harmful effects of these drugs.”

The researchers suggest the hallucinogen someday may help drug addicts kick their habit or aid terminally ill patients struggling with anxiety and depression. It may also provide a way to study what happens in the brain during intense spiritual experiences, the scientists said.

The research was published online today by the journal Psychopharmacology.

Psilocybin has been used for centuries in religious practices, and its ability to produce a mystical experience is no surprise. But the new work demonstrates it more clearly than before, Griffiths said.

The study volunteers had an average age of 46, had never used hallucinogens, and participated to some degree in religious or spiritual activities such as prayer, meditation, discussion groups or religious services.

Psilocybin’s effects lasted for up to six hours, Griffiths said. Twenty-two of the 36 volunteers reported having a “complete” mystical experience.

Even two months after taking the drug, most of the volunteers said the experience had changed them in beneficial ways, such as making them more compassionate, loving, optimistic and patient. Family members and friends said they noticed a difference, too.