Why do people take magic mushrooms?
As with most drugs, people take magic mushrooms because they like their effects; however, the effects of psilocin are not always pleasant. For some people the experience can be frightening and overwhelming. The psilocin experience is often described as ‘interesting’, ‘meaningful’ and ‘insightful’ rather than ‘pleasurable’. Consistent with the ceremonial use of magic mushrooms in ancient cultures, modern research is showing that psilocin can produce mystical-type experiences. What are the potential harms of psilocin? Relative to other recreational drugs such as alcohol, tobacco and heroin, psilocin does not appear to be especially harmful. Psilocin acts in the brain in a similar way to the hallucinogenic drug LSD and has a similar harm profile. In a systematic assessment of the harms of 20 different recreational drugs, a range of drugs experts rated LSD less harmful than alcohol, tobacco and cannabis (magic mushrooms were not rated). A replication of this study, using the same rating cr
