The Magic Mushroom (Psilocybin) Super Thread

[Rider]

Funny thing is that since taking the schrooms I've had no desire to smoke any weed.  Haven't smoked anything since last Thursday night.

Thanks to everyone for all your support.  All and all, no regrets here.  July 4th, 2008, a day I will always remember.

Funny how taking shrooms will lesson our desire to do drugs. I think it is because were just happy to be alive! It really does put things in perspective.

BTW i really do think Bell is bang on "k+"

[Rider]

by The Associated Press (08 Jul, 2008) Magic mushrooms have been used therapeutically for centuries, and now science is investigating

NEW YORK -- In 2002, at a Johns Hopkins University laboratory, a business consultant named Dede Osborn took a psychedelic drug as part of a research project. She felt like she was taking off. She saw colors. Then it felt like her heart was ripping open. But she called the experience joyful as well as painful, and says that it has helped her to this day. "I feel more centered in who I am and what I'm doing," said Osborn, now 66, of Providence, R.I. "I don't seem to have those self-doubts like I used to have. I feel much more grounded (and feel that) we are all connected."

Scientists reported Tuesday that when they surveyed volunteers 14 months after they took the drug, most said they were still feeling and behaving better because of the experience. Two-thirds of them also said the drug had produced one of the five most spiritually significant experiences they'd ever had. The drug, psilocybin, is found in so-called "magic mushrooms." It's illegal, but it has been used in religious ceremonies for centuries. The study involved 36 men and women during an eight-hour lab visit. It's one of the few such studies of a hallucinogen in the past 40 years, since research was largely shut down after widespread recreational abuse of such drugs in the 1960s.

The project made headlines in 2006 when researchers published their report on how the volunteers felt just two months after taking the drug. The new study followed them up a year after that. Experts emphasize that people should not try psilocybin on their own because it could be harmful. Even in the controlled setting of the laboratory, nearly a third of participants felt significant fear under the effects of the drug. Without proper supervision, someone could be harmed, researchers said.

Osborn, in a telephone interview, recalled a powerful feeling of being out of control during her lab experience. "It was ... like taking off, I'm being lifted up," she said. Then came "brilliant colors and beautiful patterns, just stunningly gorgeous, more intense than normal reality." And then, the sensation that her heart was tearing open. "It would come in waves," she recalled. "I found myself doing Lamaze-type breathing as the pain came on." Yet "it was a joyful, ecstatic thing at the same time, like the joy of being alive," she said. She compared it to birthing pains. "There was this sense of relief and joy and ecstasy when my heart was opened."

With further research, psilocybin (pronounced SILL-oh-SY-bin) may prove useful in helping to treat alcoholism and drug dependence, and in aiding seriously ill patients as they deal with psychological distress, said study lead author Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins. Griffiths also said that despite the spiritual characteristics reported for the drug experiences, the study says nothing about whether God exists. "Is this God in a pill? Absolutely not," he said. The experiment was funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The results were published online Tuesday by the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Fourteen months after taking the drug, 64 percent of the volunteers said they still felt at least a moderate increase in well-being or life satisfaction, in terms of things like feeling more creative, self-confident, flexible and optimistic. And 61 percent reported at least a moderate behavior change in what they considered positive ways. That second question didn't ask for details, but elsewhere the questionnaire answers indicated lasting gains in traits like being more sensitive, tolerant, loving and compassionate.

Researchers didn't try to corroborate what the participants said about their own behavior. But in the earlier analysis at two months after the drug was given, researchers said family and friends backed up what those in the study said about behavior changes. Griffiths said he has no reason to doubt the answers at 14 months.

Dr. Charles Grob, a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, called the new work an important follow-up to the first study. He said it is helping to reopen formal study of psychedelic drugs. Grob is on the board of the Heffter Research Institute, which promotes studies of psychedelic substances and helped pay for the new work.


- Article from CTV News


For the best plant and drug website on the Internet with tons of facts, information, and helpful links, visit www.EROWID.org

 

[illegal smiles]

nice article!  i'd definitely say shrooms had a positiive affect on my life without a doubt.

[Muddy Waters]

I had read this article and was discussing it last night with my friend that I had tripped with last weekend.  We both agreed that we were still feeling the effects of the trip.  I know I had a major insite into my relationship with my wife and things are even better between us than they were before.  I'm feeling it in other ways as well.  Will be interesting to see if it continues.

[Linath]

Some friends and i want to try shrooms. Any tips for a good time if it is my first time? and how much should we take each? (8th?) and what is a reasonable price for an 8th?

[Rider]

Some people are hypersensitive to psychedelics and react to a very small amount. Less then half a gram can be as potant to them as five grams are for the rest of us. That said i would recommend one gram as a starting point.

If your really intrested in shrooms Eorwid has great information.

Read a few trip reports so you know what to expect!

http://www.erowid.org/

[Uzi578]

http://www.cannabishq.com/forum/index.php/topic,4905.0.html

Previous topic on this about generally the samething.

You should educate yourself at erowid before taking them.  Depending on how good the shrooms are, I would say start out with half a cut.  Thats what Ive always done and all my friends have done.  Also, how recently you ate will affect the trip.  If your not tripping after an hour, I would say take more but it all depends on how good they are.

Good price would be around the 25-40 range for a cut depending on how good they are, who you know and how you know them.

When you trip, its all about set and settings.  You want to be somewhere comfortable, maybe inside because its your first time?  I dont know how old you are, but if you are young, your parents might be a problem.  You can trip fro 6-8+ hours plus, depending on how much you ate, if you smoked weed, etc.  So make sure you get your parents out of the way, otherwise, you can get some bad paranoia which can lead to a bad trip, Ive done it multiple times...  Basically, you just wanna goto chill mode and just enjoy it.  Listen to tunes, play video games, go outside (if you feel safe), etc.  I recommend watching a crazy movie like Fraility, Pans Labyrinth (cant spell it), Transformers, Blow, Training Day, or basically any sweet movie that seems it could be epic.  Try one of those.

You just basically have to make sure you have fun.  If you start to experience a bad trip, you have to realize you just took shrooms and they are going to fuck you up.  Just accept it and it will be a lot more fun and enjoyable rather than freaking out the whole time.  If it becomes overwhelming because you ate too much, your gonna have to try to deal with it.  Also, just accept it and eventually you wont be overwhelmed anymore and it will be real fun.

Make sure you eat also, because they can fuck your stomach up and lead to a bad trip(done it) where it feels like your going to die.  And you dont want to experience that for your first time.

But like I said, its all about set and setting.  Just catch up on erowid and wiki before you do it so you know what to expect, trip wise.  Everything I just said is pretty much personal experience and I cant really think of anything else to say thats important.

I also recommend smoking as it will intensify the trip. 

[Linath]

eat before or after consuming the shrooms?

*Edit* and thanks for the link to erowid, it's a big help

[Uzi578]

It depends, you are suppose to trip harder if you eat them on an empty stomach, so you can try that then eat, which is what I usually do.  Atleast wait a couple hours or something if you just ate a big meal, because it wont hit you as hard.

[connoisseurde420]

I ate a big meal and then tripped really hard before, helps with the stomach discomfort, its all experience and quality of shrooms.  Im going to get some this week actually its been a while.  As the others have said its all about setting the moody for a good time, you dont want ANY worries during your spiritual journey. 10 years and still trippin!

-Connoisseur

[illegal smiles]

first time start with 1-1.5g max.  you never know how you'll react as others have said, have a xanax bar or valium or ativan with you in case you start having a bad trip, those will kill your trip and calm you down within 2-5 mins max.

first time i did shrooms i split an eighth with my friend 1.75g each.  we were tripping for 6 hours, it was absolutely amazing, body feels soooo good, like almost as good as MDMA and blazing just makes it even crazier.  have fun, be careful tho! and dose low when you start if you decide to do it.

[Muddy Waters]

Don't do what I did, taking 3 grams the first time.  Put me on the verge of totally losing it.  Once I got past that it was a good trip, extremely visual.  I did experience some of the stomach discomfort but only for a little while.  Eating maybe an hour before would probably be good. 

[Linath]

Hah muddy, I was reading your post 

[Rider]

you never know how you'll react as others have said, have a xanax bar or valium or ativan with you in case you start having a bad trip, those will kill your trip and calm you down within 2-5 mins max.

HMMM my old hippie buddy used to take 2 hits of acid 2 grams of hash and 2 Valium for the strongest and upbeat trips he ever had. Far from killing the trip he says the Valium merely made his mood mellow or positive while tripping.

Another substance to use with shrooms is nitrous oxide "laughing gas" it will turn any negative vibes positively hilarious  in seconds.

[Muddy Waters]

Hah muddy, I was reading your post 

Now I'm thinking I might want to try them again, only a very small dose, maybe 1/2 a gram.