In a slender and surprising victory for supporters of hallucinogenic or "magic" mushrooms, the psychedelic drug better known to scientists as psilocybin, Denver, Colorado yesterday voted to decriminalize the drugs.
Once portrayed as illegal ways to "drop out" or "tune in," psychedelic and semi-psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and ecstasy are beginning to turn into federally-regulated medicines. Part of the reason: scientific evidence is building that the substances may have the potential to help staunch symptoms of psychiatric diseases that are difficult to treat with existing therapies. Those diseases include severe depression, for example.
Here's how psilocybin impacts the brain and body and produces its effects:
