Chemical Substance attributes
Other attributes
Psilocybin is a hallucinogenic alkaloid isolated from Psilocybe mushrooms (also known as Teonanacatl). Street names for Psilocybin are "magic mushrooms," "shrooms," "purple passion," and "mushrooms." In addition to being a hallucinogen, Psilocybin has a role as a seratonin agonist, a fungal metabolite, a human xenobiotic metabolite, and a drug metabolite. More than 180 species of mushrooms contain psilocybin or its derivative, psilocin. The molecular formula for psilocybin is C12H17N2O4P.
Psilocybin is a DEA Schedule I controlled substance—a class specifying there is no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.
In 2019, Johns Hopkins launched a Center for Psychedelic Research to study the brain and identify therapies for disease states such as addiction, Alzheimer's, depression, PTSD.