Magic mushrooms taken by hippies do produce mystical experiences, but they should not be confused with faith, a theologian says.

In a recently published study, more than 60 per cent of research subjects who were given capsules of psilocybin derived from mushrooms described the experience as mystical and profound.

Critics say that the effect produced by magic mushrooms isn't a true spiritual experience.
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But critics of the study say the manufactured spiritual feeling from magic mushrooms should not be confused with a true spiritual experience.

"All this did was stimulate that part of the human personality that produced certain feeling states and altered states of consciousness," said theologian Dave Reed, a professor at the University of Toronto. "Those are no criteria for an authentic encounter with God."

The researchers chose subjects who were religious, believing they would be less troubled by mystic side-effects. They don't yet know what would happen to subjects without spiritual beliefs.

Roland Griffiths says his team will study whether magic mushrooms can help cancer patients.
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The research is meant to help scientists understand how our thoughts, emotions and behaviour are grounded in biology, the researchers said.

"We're just measuring what can be observed," said Roland Griffiths, a professor of neuroscience, psychiatry and behavioural biology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who led the study. "We're not entering into 'Does God exist or not exist.' This work can't and won't go there."

'Potential is great'

In a commentary on the study, author Huston Smith, an authority in comparative religion, said mystical experience seems to be as old as humankind.

"This is the first scientific demonstration in 40 years, and the most rigorous ever, that profound mystical states can be produced safely in the laboratory. The potential is great."

Smith proposes studying what conditions and practices best help people to hold on to the "moments of revelation."

The research subjects said the experiences led to positive changes in their lives. Two months after taking the drug, 79 per cent said they felt a greater sense of well-being, which they likened to a life-altering event.

"When my eldest daughter was born, that was profoundly meaningful to me, and when my father recently passed away, that moved me very deeply," said Griffiths. "You know, the experience was sort of like that, they would say."

Looking inward

During the sessions, volunteers relaxed on a couch while wearing an eye mask and listening to classical music. They were encouraged to focus their attention inward. Some were given a placebo.

Psilocybin is a hallucinogen that hasn't been found to be toxic or addictive in animals or humans. It works by mimicking the effects of message-carrying serotonin on the brain.

Of the 36 healthy volunteers, almost one-third reported they felt anxious, depressed or even frightened after taking the drug, according to the report published in this week's online issue of the journal Psychopharmacology.

For most people, though, magic mushrooms or the compound in them may have therapeutic value.

Griffiths's team plans further studies to test whether the drug can help people with advanced cancer-related depression or anxiety, as well as the role of psilocybin in treating drug dependence.

"In terms of therapeutic uses, some of the things that have been suggested is terminal cancer patients, people with intractable pain," said Wende Wood, a psychiatric pharmacist in Toronto. "It would be for a small population, a very distinct population of people."