'MAGIC MUSHROOMS' MAY HELP CANCER PATIENTS, STUDY SAYS

The hallucinogen psilocybin, known by the street name magic mushrooms,
may help ease the anxiety that often accompanies late-stage cancer,
researchers said Monday. Cancer patients given a moderate dose of
psilocybin, whose effects are similar to those of LSD, were measurably
less depressed six months after a single dose compared with a placebo,
researchers reported in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The pilot
study of 12 patients was devised to prove that hallucinogenic drugs
could be studied safely as a way to relieve the distress of advanced
cancer. It revives a field of study from the 1950s to the early 1970s
that suggested some patients experienced powerful and sustained
improvement in mood and anxiety from hallucinogens. The studies were
abandoned in the early 1970s when drugs like LSD became used on the
streets, leading to strict federal laws regulating them.