The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it is fast-tracking the review and approval process for three companies studying psilocybin, the active psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, and methylone, an MDMA-like molecule, as treatments for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Jenna Kluwe remembers all the beautiful moments she saw in a converted dental clinic in east Portland. For six months, she managed the Journey Service Center, a psilocybin service center where adults 21 and older take supervised mushroom trips. She watched elderly clients with terminal illnesses able to enjoy life again. She saw one individual with obsessive compulsive disorder so severe they spent hours washing their hands who could casually eat food that fell on the floor.
"There's a potential for psychedelics to play a more important role in all of our lives, and wouldn't it be amazing if it was also a longevity therapy," Johnson proclaimed on the stream. Prior to consuming the shrooms Sunday-which has been legal at licensed facilities in Oregon since 2023-Johnson measured his brain activity with a $50,000 helmet produced by Kernel, a neuroimaging company founded by the 48-year-old. He also took saliva samples and temperature readings.
Can you take magic mushrooms in Germany? Not legally. Psilocybin and psilocin, the active compounds in magic mushrooms, are included among the Annex I substances in Germany's Narcotics Act (BtMG). In other words, magic mushrooms are considered illegal narcotics in Germany. Therefore the possession or cultivation of magic mushrooms is punishable under criminal law. Punishments range from a fine (for small amounts) up to five years imprisonment in extreme cases.
The Trump administration is set to weigh in on whether the hallucinogenic compound psilocybin should be moved into a less restrictive class of drugs under federal regulations. Regulation of psilocybin - the "magic" substance in psychedelic mushrooms - has been a hot-button issue for Californians in recent years, but repeated attempts by state lawmakers to allow medical use of the substance have floundered. Now it seems change may come at the federal level. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is weighing a petition sent earlier this month by the Drug Enforcement Administration to review the scientific evidence and consider easing restrictions.
