Psilocybin

Psilocybin is a hallucinogenic alkaloid isolated from PsilocybePsilocybe 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.

In 2019, Johns HopkinsJohns Hopkins launched a Center for Psychedelic Research to study the brain and identify therapies for disease states such as addiction, Alzheimer's, depression, PTSD.

PsilocynPsilocybin 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.

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 hallucinogen, a seratonergicseratonin 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.

In 2019, Johns Hopkins launched a Center for Psychedelic Research, to study the mindbrain and identify therapies for disease states such as addiction, Alzheimer's, depression, PTSD.

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." Psilocybin has a role as a hallucinogen, a seratonergic 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.

The most potent are members of the genus Psilocybe, such as P. azurescens, P. semilanceata, and P. cyanescens, but psilocybin has also been isolated from about a dozen other genera. As a prodrug, psilocybin is quickly converted by the body to psilocin, which has mind-altering effects similar, in some aspects, to those of LSD, mescaline, and DMT. In general, the effects include euphoria, visual and mental hallucinations, changes in perception, a distorted sense of time, spiritual experiences, and can include possible adverse reactions such as nausea and panic attacks. Imagery found on prehistoric murals and rock paintings of modern-day Spain and Algeria suggests that human usage of psilocybin mushrooms predates recorded history. In Mesoamerica, the mushrooms had long been consumed in spiritual and divinatory ceremonies before Spanish chroniclers first documented their use in the 16th century.

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." Psilocybin has a role as a hallucinogen, a seratonergic 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.

In 1959, the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann isolated the active principle psilocybin from the mushroom Psilocybe mexicana. Hofmann's employer Sandoz marketed and sold pure psilocybin to physicians and clinicians worldwide for use in psychedelic psychotherapy. Although the increasingly restrictive drug laws of the late 1960s curbed scientific research into the effects of psilocybin and other hallucinogens, its popularity as an entheogen (spirituality-enhancing agent) grew in the next decade, owing largely to the increased availability of information on how to cultivate psilocybin mushrooms. The intensity and duration of the effects of psilocybin are variable, depending on species or cultivar of mushrooms, dosage, individual physiology, and set and setting, as was shown in experiments led by Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s.

Psilocyn 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.

Once ingested, psilocybin is rapidly metabolized to psilocin, which then acts on serotonin receptors in the brain. The mind-altering effects of psilocybin typically last from two to six hours, although to individuals under the influence of psilocybin, the effects may seem to last much longer, since the drug can distort the perception of time. Psilocybin has a low toxicity and a low harm potential. Possession of psilocybin-containing mushrooms has been outlawed in most countries, and it has been classified as a scheduled drug by many national drug laws.

In 2019, Johns Hopkins launched a Center for Psychedelic Research, to study the mind and identify therapies for disease states such as addiction, Alzheimer's, depression, PTSD.

In 1959, the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann isolated the active principle psilocybin from the mushroom Psilocybe mexicana. Hofmann's employer Sandoz marketed and sold pure psilocybin to physicians and clinicians worldwide for use in psychedelic psychotherapy. Although the increasingly restrictive drug laws of the late 1960s curbed scientific research into the effects of psilocybin and other hallucinogens, its popularity as an entheogen (spirituality-enhancing agent) grew in the next decade, owing largely to the increased availability of information on how to cultivate psilocybin mushrooms. The intensity and duration of the effects of psilocybin are variable, depending on species or cultivar of mushrooms, dosage, individual physiology, and set and setting, as was shown in experiments led by Timothy Leary at Harvard UniversityHarvard University in the early 1960s.