The opening paragraph of this article about psychedelic mushrooms makes it seem as if the Wall Street Journal was unaware of their existence until this very moment.
Scientists said a substance in certain mushrooms induced powerful, mind-altering experiences among a group of well-educated, middle-aged men and women. The study could revive interest in researching the effects of psychedelic drugs.
Uh, really? Shrooms make people trip? Who would have thunk it?
The rest of the article, however, makes it clear that the WSJ is hip to the fact that some mushrooms are psychedelic. The article is about one of the first studies of the effects of psychedelic mushrooms in 40 years. Most of the volunteers reported happy trips with long-lasting benefits.
A third of the participants said the experience with psilocybin was the single most significant experience of their lives, and an additional 38% rated it among their top five such experiences — akin to, say, the birth of a first child or the death of a parent. Just 8% of the Ritalin episodes were reported to be among the top five meaningful occurrences. Two months after the sessions, 79% of the participants indicated in questionnaires that their sense of well-being and satisfaction increased after the psilocybin episodes, compared with 21% for Ritalin.
