I CAN SEE GOD... NO WAIT, THAT’S MY CAT

After decades of seeing hallucinogenic drugs demonized by the mainstream media, it’s strange to read a variety of reports last week about the psychological benefits of magic mushrooms. It appears that researchers have finally discovered what experimental teenagers have known all along, that shrooms have the potential to make you very, very happy. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found that over 60 percent of volunteers who took capsules of psilocybin derived from mushrooms reported having a “full mysitcal experience,” with a third reporting that the experience was the single most spiritually significant event of their lifetimes. Even two months after the experiment, 79 percent of the volunteers said they felt an increased sense of well-being or life satisfaction thanks to the miraculous little mushroom. However, Dr. Roland Griffiths, a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry was quick to warn that the drug can also have adverse effects. "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," he warned. "Under unmonitored conditions, it's not hard to imagine those emotions escalating to panic and dangerous behavior." (Reuters)