Researchers are beginning to look again at how LSD and psilocybin – the active compound in magic mushrooms – might be of benefit in the treatment of addiction, for obsessive compulsive disorder and even, according to one small Swiss study, to alleviate the symptoms of anxiety in terminally ill patients.
However, writing in the BMJ, psychiatrist Dr James Rucker, said that no evidence had ever shown the drugs to be habit-forming. There is also little evidence of harm when used in controlled settings, and a wealth of studies indicating that they have uses in the treatment of common psychiatric disorders, he said.
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The study, carried out as part of a psychedelic research project by neuroscientists at Imperial College London, is expected to “revolutionize” scientists understanding of the brain.
To date, the project has been partially funded by Imperial College London and the Beckley Foundation. However, researchers are now in need of £25,000 to analyze scans.