Far out: “magic mushrooms” could benefit patients with late-stage cancer
To legalize or not?
A group of U.S. researchers have released a report, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, which states that a hallucinogen known as psilocybin may diminish the anxiety suffered by patients with late-stage cancers. Psilocybin – known on the streets as “magic mushrooms” – produces effects similar to LSD, a drug that was popular in the sixties.
Twelve cancer patients were studied, and when compared to those who received a placebo drug, the patients who received what the study deems “moderate” doses of psilocybin were far less depressed six months after the study began. Researchers believe that this is proof that hallucinogens, when monitored and given in appropriate doses, may be a safe way to provide relief to some cancer patients.
Between the mid-1950s and the 1970s, some researchers conducted studies that revealed the benefits of hallucinogens, but these findings were dismissed and other similar studies abandoned when LSD became a much-feared street drug and was eventually regulated under federal law to protect people’s health. LSD, or lysergic acid diethylamide, was called “a public health crisis,” and at that point, researchers lost hope that the use of hallucinogens for cancer treatment would ever be taken seriously.
“These compounds were associated with a very politically active counterculture,” said Dr. Charles Grob, of the LA Biomedical Research Institute. “Everything had to be shut down.”
Today, hallucinogens, including “magic mushrooms,” are prohibited for use under federal law, but Dr. Grob believes that, if psilocybin was found to be beneficial for those dealing with late-stage cancer, regulators would revisit their stance on using the drug.
Dr. Grob began his study by giving patients a moderate dose of psilocybin and then monitored them for six hours while they lay still with eyes closed, listening to soothing music through headphones. All of the patients had positive reactions to the drug – no “bad trips” in Dr. Grob’s words – and the majority showed signs of decreased anxiety after six months of study participation. During the placebo phase, patients received niacin (which increases levels of good cholesterol) and adhered to the same instructions.
Dr. Grob wasn’t the only one who picked up this type of research again. Studies were also reportedly underway at Johns Hopkins University and NYU. Dr. Grob himself believes that psilocybin could be very helpful for qualifying cancer patients, and that “times have changed..it’s now possible to pick up this research model again.”
Some people, however, question the use of any illegal or questionable drug for the treatment of cancer, but some people who know cancer firsthand are of the “whatever it takes” frame of mind. If a certain treatment, controversial or not, helps patients who are suffering from cancer, then what’s the fuss? If the treatment is administered in a safe environment, and the risks are minimal, why wouldn’t the treatment be made available?
The use of hallucinogens mirrors the controversy related to medical marijuana. Right now, fourteen states allow the use of pot for medical purposes only, and in November, voters in California will vote on a bill that would legalize medical marijuana there, too. While many people think that legalizing pot will lead to abuse of the substance by people who really don’t need it, and just want to get high, Dr. Grob thinks that today’s society is more open-minded and welcoming of such controversial therapies.
“I think that is an indication that there has been a very strong shift within society,” he says of the trend to legalize pot in some states. “I think there is a greater capacity to be open-minded and let science dictate our conclusion.”
What do you think? Despite the controversy surrounding the use of medical marijuana, and concerns about using a drug similar to LSD to treat cancer patients, do you think it makes sense to make these and other drugs legal for medical use?
Source:
MSNBC.com
