story. i m anderson cooper. you ve probably heard of magic mushrooms. mushrooms which contain psilocybin, a natural substance that can cause hallucinations when ingested. magic mushrooms became popular in the united states in the 1960s. but in the last decade there s been an increasing amount of research into psilocybin to see if it could help treat depression, anxiety and substance abuse. magic mushrooms are still illegal on the federal level but a few states have decriminalized them and this year oregon became the first state to legalize the use of psilocybin in licensed therapy centers. there s still a lot we don t know about psilocybin s effect on the brain long term. and many are asking if it s too soon to offer these treatments. over the next hour cnn s david culver takes us into this fascinating new world and takes us on a mind-altering journey of his own. embarking on a psychedelic trip thank you. requires a willingness to be vulnerable, to hold nothing b
some medical experts fear it s all moving too quickly in oregon. the one thing that does worry me is this trend where we re bypassing the fda and other safeguards to kind of determine what is a safe medicine. are we informing people of the risks? you know, do we even know the risks? another concern is that facilitators only have to have a high school degree. some people come at it from a different angle, and we re not trying to close those people out. we want those people. i m thinking about couples who might want to do a session themselves. seth mehr is among those planning to offer psilocybin treatment. he happens to be a former e.r. doctor. was there a point you said to yourself, we should be trying a different course of treatment or medication? i would see the same patients who were getting kind of standard psychiatric medications, therapy, who really
After voters approved a psilocybin measure in 2020, swanky spa-like retreats and New Agey clinics may herald a ’shroom boom of out-of-state travelers.