Should the US legalize "magic mushroom" use?

[blazedaces]

My friend sent me this article in an e-mail:
Study Finds Long-term Benefit in Illegal "Magic" Mushroom Use.

This was my response:

Well, I was going to do some research to prove that mushrooms are actually harmful in the long-run... but then I was proven surprisingly wrong, check this out: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-07/jhmi-hss070506.php

This is from the Q & A section at the end:

Q 9: Studies at Hopkins have shown the potential for brain damage from MDMA ( "ecstasy"). How do you know psilocybin doesn't have the same risk?

Some studies have shown that MDMA can damage certain nerve cells. There is no experimental or clinical evidence in animals or humans that psilocybin, even in very high doses, is similarly neurotoxic. Enough research has been done with psilocybin, starting in the 1950s, that we can be reasonably confident that it is not physically toxic in doses humans ordinarily use. This is consistent with the fact that psilocybin-containing mushrooms have not, in millennia of use, acquired a reputation of being physically harmful. Traditions that use psilocybin mushrooms do, however, caution about psychological and spiritual risks of using them haphazardly.

Basically the only potential harm is in the idea that it probably lowers your ability to reason properly, sort of like alcohol does. That's... interesting.

So magic mushrooms are even LESS harmful than marijuana! There's absolutely no reason not to legalize it.

What do you guys think?

-blazed

 

[marthanoob]

My understanding is that the main use of shrooms are to contort brain processes to transcend logic and become extremely intuitive temporarily.
Surprisingly, many intellectuals have recommended this to me for aesthetic, detached, and "things that cannot be put into words" experiences, but to be honest, I don't trust substances that mess with my mind. Even caffiene and other milder things I tend to avoid.

Back on topic, yes probably. I don't see much evidence for it being too potentially harmful. Problems would arise if people start using it during dangerous activities such as driving, but studies have not shown it to be particularly damaging.

 

[cF=)]

Psychedelics, in general, are much safer health-wise than many drugs. Mystical experiences are also known to originate from DMT intake, a powerful mind-blowing drug took by ancient civilizations during voodoo rituals. It's saddening to see all these drugs in the same "illegal" basket, especially when you know acid is far from being as dangerous as crack.

 

[Vro]

They're physically harmless. The only concern of making it legal is the strength of these hallucinogens. How can we make sure people are responsible with it? You can't immediately tell if someone is tripping, and I doubt they can perform advanced functions.

especially when you know acid is far from being as dangerous as crack.

Prolonged use of acid melts your brain. And by melt I mean slowly destroy. But it is a far cry from crack.

 

[Eriatarka]

They were legal in Ireland until around 2 years ago when a guy went to a party after taking loads of them, and was killed after jumping off the roof, thinking he could fly. There was outcry from his family, they gathered support and the government agreed to ban them.
I'm in favour of them being legalised though, they're certainly a lesser 'evil' than alcohol. If a person takes mushrooms and is properly looked after by friends, or is sensible about how many they take and can still keep a fair grasp on reality, they aren't a danger to themselves or anyone else.
I'd imagine casual use might be quite high if they were legal, but without the physical addictiveness or physically harmful effects of other drugs, I don't see abuse being much of a problem. It'd be much less of a problem than alcohol abuse, that's for sure.

 

[snex]

recreational drugs should be legal regardless of the harm they may cause. why cant adults do whatever they like to their own bodies?

 

[cF=)]

Prolonged use of acid melts your brain. And by melt I mean slowly destroy.

I don't think you understand the connotation of the word 'acid'. Chemistry III, an acid is a molecule ending with the functional group -COOH, meaning we're pretty far from the pH acidity of H2SO4 or HCl. It's only given that name following its molecular structure.

 

[Kitten]

You can't immediately tell if someone is tripping, and I doubt they can perform advanced functions.

Just as a note, it's fairly easy to identify people who are tripping by their highly dilated pupils.

I think if they were to legalise psilocybin, they'd need to license it or something. People would need to be able to show they are prepared to actually take them and know what's responsible and what's not when using them.

 

[e__]

Unfortunately, even though Marijuana has a chance at being legalized, psychedelics other than DMT are not going to be legalized in the near future. People are pretty ignorant when it comes to them, and they think of acid and shrooms being extremely dangerous even though all they do is make you hallucinate and are safer than tobacco and alcohol. They're even going on charades to attack the legal, barely known hallucinogens (Salvia Divinorum is one that has a chance of being outlawed pretty soon locally).

I believe that the government should not control what we do to ourselves, but what we do to others. If we kill someone on drugs, then blame us for not using the drug responsibly, not the drug.

 

[pockyD]

If the drug does make you likely to kill others though for whatever reason, it's obviously in the government's (and everyone's, really) best interest to prevent the murder as opposed to punishing it after the fact

 

[snex]

If the drug does make you likely to kill others though for whatever reason, it's obviously in the government's (and everyone's, really) best interest to prevent the murder as opposed to punishing it after the fact

the only drug that makes you more likely to murder somebody, afaik, is alcohol. so much for that theory...

 

[Kur]

My friend sent me this article in an e-mail:
Study Finds Long-term Benefit in Illegal "Magic" Mushroom Use.

This was my response:

Well, I was going to do some research to prove that mushrooms are actually harmful in the long-run... but then I was proven surprisingly wrong, check this out: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-07/jhmi-hss070506.php

This is from the Q & A section at the end:

Basically the only potential harm is in the idea that it probably lowers your ability to reason properly, sort of like alcohol does. That's... interesting.

So magic mushrooms are even LESS harmful than marijuana! There's absolutely no reason not to legalize it.

What do you guys think?

-blazed

I read your link. There are some portions that lead me to maintain my opinion that 'shrooms' should be illegal.

"Even in this study, where we greatly controlled conditions to minimize adverse effects, about a third of subjects reported significant fear, with some also reporting transient feelings of paranoia," says Griffiths. "Under unmonitored conditions, it's not hard to imagine those emotions escalating to panic and dangerous behavior."

Which sort of ties into my reasons for keeping marijuana illegal. The drug alters your ability to think and in this case, can cause you to act in a dangerous manner. This puts not only you, but the people around you in danger. And your right to this 'spiritual experience' is not does not outweigh somebody else' right to live.

"Each of thirty of the subjects attended two separate 8-hour drug sessions, at two month intervals. On one they received psilocybin, on another, methylphenidate (Ritalin), the active placebo."

It seems that the test subjects were only given the 'active ingredient' from the shrooms, but not the shrooms themselves. I do not know if there are any harmful chemicals in the mushrooms so I won't say anything one way or the other, but it is worth pointing this out.

"Psychological tests and subjects' own reports showed no harm to study participants, though some admitted extreme anxiety or other unpleasant effects in the hours following the psilocybin capsule."

Again, negative effects from a simple capsule of the ingredient. These effects could be amplified a lot by a person eating too many shrooms.



It seems to me that putting yourself or others at risk for the same of a 'spiritual experience' especially one produced by a chemical making your brain fire weird, is not worth the risk.

the only drug that makes you more likely to murder somebody, afaik, is alcohol. so much for that theory...

Can you back up that claim?

A drug that can cause fear and paranoia (like shrooms) seems a likely candidate for causing a person to murder another person.

Back when my aunt was doing drugs, she dated a guy who gouged his own mothers eyes out with his thumbs while high on meth.

There are more drugs than just alcohol that make normally sane people do some twisted messed up things, including murder.