SUBJECTS REPORT LIFE-ALTERING TRIP

Researchers Find Some Positive Effects From Hallucinogenic
Drug

Some find meaning in meditation, others through religion, but for some
middle-aged volunteers in a Johns Hopkins study, their life-altering
sacred experience arrived in a dose of psilocybin, the active
ingredient in so-called sacred mushrooms indigenous to Mexico.

In what some are calling a landmark study on the effects of
hallucinogens, Roland Griffiths and colleagues brought 36 adults into
the laboratory where they experienced their first psychedelic high.

Two-thirds said it was among the most profound events in their lives,
said Griffiths, whose findings appear in the journal
Psychopharmacology. The positive effects appeared to last for as long
as a year.

The volunteers, average age 46, took the drug in a relaxed setting
with two monitors present for another eight hours. They were given
either psilocybin, an amphetamine compound or a placebo.

Afterward, volunteers completed a battery of tests. Two-thirds
recounted a profound spiritual experience. "These are successful,
dynamic people with plenty of life experience," Griffiths said. "We
didn't expect this."

But Griffiths said a third of the volunteers experienced terrible fear
and anxiety. "These drugs should not be used recreationally,"
Griffiths said. "These are potentially dangerous drugs, and we can't
predict who will have fear, anxiety and paranoia. You can imagine that
in different circumstances, someone might panic and do something dangerous."

The negative effects, at least in the calm study setting, didn't last
beyond the session, whereas positive ones persisted. "They felt that
they learned something true and deeply important," Griffiths said.