Monthly Archives: November 2020

Its not uncommon to find cannabis consumers who also use psychoactive mushrooms, and vice versa. The internet is full of articles about self-administering psilocybin and marijuana together, with anecdotal reports from people who perceive an enhanced effect from the combination.

What does the science say about how these two substances affect the consumer when taken together?

People have combined the two compounds for decadesif not centuries. One 2006 study that looked into polysubstance use among university students found that of the 149 students surveyed, nearly 60% regularly co-administered cannabis and psilocybin (the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms).

That co-administration remained mostly limited to the experimentation of younger adults, though, until recently. In the past few years, mainstream interest in psilocybin has exploded, driven by promising research into its therapeutic use.

That growing interest resulted in a historic vote in Oregon and Washington, DC, earlier this month, in which the state and the district both decriminalized the possession and use of psilocybin.

It will soon be legal to use both substances together in those jurisdictions. But is that a good idea? What does the science say about how these two substances affect the consumer when taken together? Heres what we know.

Related

What are psychedelics?

Most of what we know about the pairing comes from anecdotal reports. The experience provoked by ingesting a psychedelic substancelet alone the combination of two different psychedelics like psilocybin and cannabisis highly subjective. It can be affected by a persons mindset and their social environment, often referred to as set and setting. This makes the effects of these drugs difficult to study in a controlled way.

That said, cannabis can augment the effect of psilocybin, particularly when paired with a heroic dose of psilocybin.

Michelle Janikian, author of Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion, wrote about What You Need to Know About Smoking Weed While Tripping for Double Blind last year. The main concern, she wrote, is the consumers mental and spiritual well-being, because cannabis can have an unpredictably strong effect when mixed with psychedelics.

Related

How to prepare for your first psychedelic mushroom trip

Its not uncommon to hear that cannabis intensified someones experience with heroic dose of psilocybinand not necessarily in a good way.

I personally find mixing cannabis and mushrooms together can be a bit intense for me, reported Janelle Lassalle, a Leafly contributor who writes about the psychedelic world at her website, The Full Spectrum Revolution. It depends on how Ive been feeling, but if Im not doing well emotionally and Ive taken mushrooms, theyll bring those thoughts to the forefront. This kind of volatile emotional state, then, doesnt always mix well with larger doses of cannabis.

A 2019 literature review published in the Journal of Addictive Diseases also mentioned the increased emotional intensity mentioned by Lassalle. Russian researchers noted a clinical presentation of hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD), a condition characterized by recurrent hallucinations while on and off of substances, in three subjects who paired cannabis with psilocybin with additional substances.

The subjects described the experiences as stressful and frightening. That HPPD event was a single clinical presentation, however, and not a common reaction found in a full clinical studyin other words, its a tiny sample size and should not be taken as conclusive evidence.

Lassalle said she generally finds mushrooms to be more enjoyable on their own, but she and her partner occasionally use cannabis with micro-doses of psilocybin, which she says is much more enjoyableand popular, according others who partake in this pairing.

A microdose with cannabis feels like youre having a wonderful day, plain and simple, said Lasalle. I have higher energy levels, but not at a racy level. Im more alert, focused, creative. I can fall asleep more easily at the end of the night. Colors look a little brighter and everything feels more vivid.

According to a 2017 report by the Global Drug Survey, psilocybin sends the fewest people to the emergency room of any drug on the market. Perhaps the most dangerous thing about psychedelic mushrooms, noted Popular Science, is that theyre easily confused for the poisonous kind.

Cannabis has a well-known track record with regard to lethality: No one has ever died from a marijuana overdose. It simply doesnt affect the mind and body in the same way as opioids and other potentially deadly drugs.

Dr. Evan Wood is a physician and epidemiologist whos spent most of his career studying substance use clinically. Many patients in his own clinical practice have used psilocybin and cannabis. But there are few published studies on the combined effects of using both compounds together.

I think the one thing that can be inferred from the lack of studies is probably that [taking the two compounds together is] not remotely toxic, because we know that cannabis isnt particularly toxic on its own, and neither is psilocybin, Wood told Leafly.

If you look at ibogaine for instance, a lot of literature exists that stems from the toxicology literature, he added. So thats just from people doing it in the community and showing up in hospitals and poison control centers, or investigators doing research, studying these effects. So, if there was a toxic, synergistic effect of cannabis and psilocybin, we would know about it.

While many people use psychedelics purely for the experience, some are pairing psilocybin and cannabis for potential health benefits. The reported success of psychedelic-assisted therapies is so compelling that experts project psychedelics will one day pose a threat to the booming market for anti-depressants and other pharmaceutical drugs.

Likewise, cannabisparticularly CBDhas become a popular alternative to traditional pharmaceuticals, especially for pain relief.

Ophelia Chong, a longtime cannabis entrepreneur, said she frequently micro-doses psilocybin for its world-changing mental health effects. But Chong keeps the two substances separate. She told Leafly she believes that the introduction of cannabis would likely take away from the benefit of psilocybin.

Its like a car and a horse, Chong said. Psilocybin and cannabis are two different things. If youre going to do psilocybin, I would do it first to experience the journey and really answer the questions you want. Then add cannabis later to come downbecause cannabis, I believe, mutes a lot of your questions. Using cannabis on top of psilocybin, she added, is putting blinders on when you should have them off.

Evan Wood confirmed that hes heard of patients using cannabis on the latter end of a psilocybin trip, to facilitate a soft comedown from the energizing effects of psilocybin.I think we know from just use in a naturalistic context of psychedelic substances people commonly use cannabis alongside different drugs including psychedelics, and at least anecdotally people will commonly use cannabis to support the come-down or to synergistically augment the experience, said Wood.

Though some users find the benefits of psilocybin and cannabis are better reaped individually, anecdotal reports from others claim that using the drugs in tandem has been a key to their health and wellness.

I have never consumed mushrooms without cannabis, said one consumer who spoke to Leafly but asked to remain anonymous because the legal status of the substances. I consider mushrooms [to be] cannabis older bigger brother, which complete my medicinal needs.Cannabis for physical ailments.Mushrooms for my soul. The combination being the apex of healing.

Its unclear exactly if or how cannabis and psilocybin can be taken together to augment therapeutic benefits. Nonetheless, Evan Wood is eager to understand this synergy, especially because drug synergies are common and often leveraged to improve a patients overall health.

From my perspective as an internal medicine physician its very common for two medications to be included together for synergistic effects, said Wood. I see patients all the time who are on a combination ACE inhibitor diuretic pill for their high blood pressure. You dont want to give too much diuretic or someones electrolytes might go out of whack. But we can give some diuretic and we can give some ACE inhibitor and we can get this great synergistic effect on blood pressure.

I think we know [taking psilocybin and cannabis together] appears to be safe. I think we know that its happening naturalistically in the community and probably has been for centuries. As we go into the modern era, wed be silly to put blinders on and ignore the fact that these types of things are going to occurand we should be exploring what it means.

Wood isnt alone in this thinking. The University of Miami medical school just received funding from a Toronto-based company, Tassili, to study the effects of combining psilocybin and CBD in treating traumatic brain injuries and PTSD. Researchers wonder if the entourage effectthe synergistic interplay between the many cannabinoids and terpenes found in cannabismight also happen when CBD is paired with psilocybin.

That University of Miami study will enter a human clinical trial phase in early 2021. If the two compounds are found to work well together, they may offer relief to military veterans who suffer disproportionately from traumatic brain injuries and PTSD.

Dr. Michael Hoffer, the chief scientist leading the study, said: Our goal is to develop a prescription pill with these ingredients that treat mTBI [mild traumatic brain injury] and PTSD. This is a new and increasingly exciting area.

Psychedelics and your head

Alexa Peters

Alexa Peters is a freelance writer who covers music, writing, travel, feminism, and self-help. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Paste, the Seattle Times, Seattle Magazine, and Amy Poehler's Smart Girls.

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Combining cannabis with psychedelic mushrooms: Recipe for mind expansion or a bad trip? - Leafly

The industry is on the cusp of delivering a new age of healthcare and will need capital. Can it retain its idealism through that process?

Follow the sector closely and youll start to notice an underlying theme in the new age of psychedelics a deep-rooted ambition to do good for others. Not every industry is able to deliver on that promise, but the business of psychedelics wants to be different.

Although 2020 served as a launching pad for psychedelics investing, decades of work and activism have gone largely unnoticed by players in the capital markets.

Now that theres money to be made and lots of it by even the most conservative estimates investors will have to grapple with the altruistic interests of the players shaping the industry. Those same players may have to get accustomed to the realities of the capital markets.

In the pursuit of capital for such a compassionate industry, which interests will win out? One industry insider believes it could be possible to have both.

Liana Gillooly is a development officer at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a research group working on one of the most advanced drug development studies for a psychedelic substance. MAPS is investigating the use of MDMA as a method of psychotherapy for patients with PTSD.

In 2017, this psychedelics-based method was granted a breakthrough therapy designation by the US Food and Drug Administration in a move that represented the drug authoritys changing perspective. MAPS has said in the past that it expects its Phase 3 trials sometime in 2021.

Gillooly told the Investing News Network (INN) that existential questions about how a business and its purpose can help the world at large arent so radical anymore, and psychedelics can help push that even further without compromising capital needs.

The expert is no newcomer to the investment landscape, especially drug-related businesses. Gillooly previously worked with the Arcview Group, a cannabis policy advocacy group and investment network.

The group tracks and advocates for the legalization of cannabis across jurisdictions. But while noble in its intention, the experience of trying to push the social awareness platform into the cannabis investment space eventuallybegan to feel hollow for Gillooly.

I started feeling like our words were empty, because I was looking around the industry and I was seeing that a certain demographic of people was making cash hand over fist, millions of dollars, while another demographic of people was still serving time behind bars for minor cannabis offenses, she said.

The legalization trend for cannabis has highlighted the disparity in opportunities the industry has brought. A report from Vice on a recent study shows white men represent the leading demographic in cannabis companies leadership positions. The studys findings echo a report from the Financial Post showing an absence of minorities in leadership positions in the space.

Gillooly said the stakes are even higher when it comes to social responsibility for the psychedelics industry, since these drugs, if approved, will likely become part of a patients life.

I think the set and setting and the context from which these medicines are received matters, not just, you know, in the immediate environment, but the cultural context. I think it really impacts what a person can get out of these experiences, she noted.

When asked about the entrance of parties interested in psychedelics only for the potential end-game gains, Gillooly recognized that this is already happening in Canada.

She also pointed out that when it comes to the growth factor for the psychedelics stock market, there are very few legitimate opportunities at the moment since the trend is heading towards drug development.

In a previous interview with INN, Richard Carleton, CEO of the Canadian Securities Exchange, said investors should be realistic about the time proposition attached to the investment story of psychedelics.

Even so, the welcoming nature of the Canadian markets has attracted a new rush of listings from various companies trying to capture the attention of investors interested in the psychedelics business proposal.

While Gillooly said this natural, she thinks a critical few are capable of dictating the path for this industry.

I do think that theres enough people and theres enough entrepreneurs and enough funders that recognize that this is a really precious and critical moment and opportunity, and are genuinely desiring to put their money where their mouth is, and to be a little bit more experimental and to see what we can make happen, she said.

I dont think we need everyone, I just think we need a critical mass of people to do that.

Why is psychedelics raising these questions more than other industries?

Saad Shah, managing partner with Noetic Psychedelics, thinks its because the psychedelics business is uniquely positioned to directly help peoples mental health. Thats the main purpose put forth by those directly involved in the sector.

JR Rahn, co-founder and co-CEO of Mind Medicine (MindMed) (NEO:MMED,OTCQB:MMEDF), previously told INN he wants to see this industry completely change the approach to mental health.

Watch the full interview with Rahn above.

MindMed was one of the first firms to publicly listbased on the psychedelics business proposition.

The industry, which has seen a steady rush of new listings and existing public companies rejigging their approaches to pursue opportunities in psychedelics, has received votes of confidence from significant investors with large sway on the motivation of investors.

Arguably chief among them is Shark Tank investor Kevin OLeary. The celebrity businessman politician hasnt shied away from his support of psychedelics with the public launch of MindMed back in February.

Since then, OLeary has continued to voice his enthusiasm for the investment possibility with psychedelics. Most recently he re-emphasized his opinion via Business Insider.

Such high-profile connections have only added to questions about how an industry based on grassroots activism can deal with heavy interest from commercial and investment opportunities as they bubble up.

This discussion recently reached one of the leading drug policy events. At the latest edition of the online Prohibition Partners LIVE event, a panel featuring non-profit psychedelics experts expressed hesitation about the general idea of commercializing plant-based medicines.

The panelists were skeptical about who benefits from introducing commercial concepts to an industry otherwise known for grassroots activism.

Dr. Victoria Hale, a board director for MAPS, said the industry has to be careful and conscientious as commercial interest is only set to grow from hereon out.

The possible benefit of commercialization is broader access, and I think we all would agree that there are many people in the world who would benefit from these medicines, Dr. Hale said.

Alongside the interest from the capital markets comes the question of if that level of attention will affect the focus or direction of the psychedelics industry. One industry observer with plenty of experience in the cannabis space doesnt think so.

Stephen Murphy, co-founder and managing director of drug research firm Prohibition Partners, said capital interest doesnt necessarily mean there isnt an inherent desire to help people otherwise, he said, Theres money to be made in gold and oil and 1,001 other areas.

Prohibition Partners prepares and publishes market insights on the global cannabis industry and has been taking a closer look at the rise of psychedelics, issuing its first report earlier this year.

I think it is the challenge of psychedelics that is attracting a lot of interest, Murphy told INN. There is more information on this now more than ever, yet its just getting the light of day, which is why I think we are seeing this wave of interest.

Murphy called on investors to ask smarter questions when it comes to this sector and for those at the management level at companies in the space to get psychedelics into the mainstream in a responsible and ethical way.

While its clear the psychedelics industry will have to grapple with continued interest from the investment community, one investment group partner previously told INN hes hoping for a marketplace focused on principles and doing good for others.

I think the interesting thing about these substances is that beyond the obvious therapeutic and medical applications that were seeing, I think on a personal level they have this kind of tremendous capacity to (create) personal development and empathy, said Michael Hoyos, co-founding partner, Americas, with the Conscious Fund.

I think thats helped a lot of folks that Ive spoken to feel almost like a certain responsibility to help this industry flourish and develop in the right way.

Dont forget to follow us@INN_LifeSciencefor real-time news updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Bryan Mc Govern, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.

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As Psychedelics Go Mainstream, Can the Industry Keep its Heart? | INN - Investing News Network

A first-of-its-kind exploratory study, led by researchers from Yale School of Medicine, has found a single dose of the psychedelic psilocybin can reduce migraine frequency by 50 percent for a least two weeks. The preliminary trial was small, with follow-up work necessary to validate the results, but the promising findings suggest great potential for psychedelics to treat migraines and cluster headaches.

Back in the 1960s, during the height of the first wave of psychedelic science, one of the more compelling research avenues was the potential for drugs such as LSD and psilocybin to treat headaches. Initial studies at the time seemed to suggest psychedelic drugs that activate 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A (5-HT2A) receptors could significantly reduce headache burden in chronic migraine sufferers.

Of course, all this research froze by the early 1970s as psychedelic drugs were criminalized and rendered taboo. It wasnt really until the early years of the 21st century that the research restarted, and most modern psychedelic research has primarily focused on the drugs as adjuncts to psychotherapy, targeting conditions such as depression, addiction and PTSD.

Although official psychedelic investigations were in a state of deep freeze, out in the real world people continued to experiment with these drugs, self-treating for a number of conditions. Several surveys of these real-world applications revealed an abundance of cluster headache and migraine patients experimenting with LSD and psilocybin.

A new study, published in the journal Neurotherapeutics, is offering the first double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study on the effects of a moderate psilocybin dose on migraine frequency and severity. The research is only preliminary and small but its results are deeply encouraging.

Ten migraine sufferers were recruited for the trial. Each subject completed two sessions, one with a placebo and one with a moderate psilocybin dose. Headache diaries were used to track headache frequency and severity in the two weeks leading up to, and following, each experimental session.

Compared to placebo, a single administration of psilocybin reduced migraine frequency by about half over the two weeks measured, explains corresponding author on the new study Emmanuelle Schindler, in an email to New Atlas. In addition, when migraine attacks did occur in those two weeks, pain intensity and functional impairment during attacks were reduced by approximately 30 percent each.

Perhaps the most intriguing finding from this small study was the lack of any correlation between the subjective strength of the psychedelic experience and the therapeutic effect. Prior trials using psilocybin to treat depression or addiction have suggested the overwhelming magnitude of a psychedelic experience seems to be fundamentally entwined with its therapeutic efficacy. So essentially, the more powerful the experience the better the result.

But unexpectedly, this migraine/psilocybin trial did not detect that association. In fact, those subjects reporting the highest scores on a self-reported altered state of consciousness scale showed some of the smaller reductions in migraine burden.

What this intriguingly suggests is that, in the case of psilocybin for migraine, it may be possible to separate out the drug's psychotropic effects from its therapeutic effects. This could be achieved either by exploring microdoses and sub-hallucinogenic doses, or even homing in on the mechanism by which the drug is helping prevent migraines and finding a new way to pharmacologically target it.

This is definitely a finding were interested in exploring further, says Schindler. If these outcomes are confirmed to be independent, it suggests that the migraine-suppressing effects do not involve the same systems that cause the acute changes in sensation and perception. Psilocybin has some chemical and pharmacological similarities to existing migraine medications that are not psychedelic, so we plan to investigate its therapeutic effect in this context.

It is important to understand the limitations of these new findings. This is a small exploratory study, designed to uncover potential signals that are worthy of more robust investigation. The two-week follow up, for example, offers no indication as to the long-term efficacy of this kind of therapy. This is something Schindler suggests will be closely studied in future research.

Moving forward, Schindler is cautious not to overstate her teams findings but she does say the results are exciting. Not only does this research offer signals psychedelic compounds could meaningfully help those suffering from debilitating migraines, but the study offers novel insights into the still-unexplained physiological causes of chronic headache disorders.

Lots of questions still need to be resolved before any kind of clinical treatment can come from this research but Schindler and colleagues are already working on the next steps, with longer follow-up periods and greater focus on different dose effects.

I have a new migraine study starting soon and Im also currently studying post-concussion headache, which often resembles migraine, adds Schindler. Im not aware of any other groups investigating psilocybin or related compounds in migraine, though cluster headache is currently being studied, not only by my group, but also Swiss and Danish researchers.

The new study was published in the journal Neurotherapeutics.

See more here:

Psilocybin & migraine: First of its kind trial reports promising results - New Atlas

Its autumn, the best season for mushroom pickers. And mushrooms specifically magic ones are in the spotlight. A growing body of research is showing that psilocybin, the main psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, has potential in treating psychological disorders like depression, addiction and PTSD. The state of Oregon just voted to legalise the mushrooms for therapeutic use a US first.

Of the nearly 200 species of psychedelic mushrooms that have been identified worldwide, only one Psilocybe semilanceata grows in any abundance in northern Europe. Like many mushrooms, Psilocybe semilanceata is generally known not by its scientific designation, but by its common or folk name, the liberty cap mushroom.

For years, this bothered me. As a Roman historian, I know the liberty cap (the pileus, in Latin) as a hat given to a Roman slave on the occasion of their being freed. It was a conical felt cap, shaped like that of a smurf, and which undeniably bears a clear resemblance to Psilocybe semilanceatas distinctive pointy cap.

But how on earth did an obscure Roman social practice end up lending its name to a modern psychedelic? As I soon discovered, the answer takes us through an assassination, a number of revolutions, a bit of poetry, a dash of xenophobia, and a very unusual scientific discovery.

The original liberty cap was an actual hat, worn by freed slaves in the Roman world to mark their status: no longer property, but never truly free, tainted by their history. For the freedman, it was a symbol both of pride and shame.

But in the year 44 BC, the hat gained a new cultural currency after Julius Caesar was famously murdered on the Ides of March (March 15). To advertise his part in the deed, Marcus Junius Brutus (of et tu, Brute fame) minted coins, the obverse of which bore the legend EID MAR beneath a pair of daggers and the distinctive liberty cap. Brutuss meaning was clear: Rome herself had been freed from Caesars tyranny.

Brutuss use of this symbol translated it from a low status social marker into an elite political symbol, and one that enjoyed a considerably longer life than the short-lived Brutus himself. Throughout the remainder of the Roman period the goddess Libertas and the liberty cap were a commonly employed shorthand by emperors keen to stress the freedom that their absolute rule bought.

With the collapse of Roman power in Europe in the fifth century AD, the liberty cap was forgotten. But then, during the 16th century, as interest in and explicit emulation of Roman antiquity began to spread through the countries of Europe, the liberty cap again reached public consciousness.

Books like Cesare Ripas Iconologia (1593) described the hat and its symbolism for educated audiences, and it again began to be used as a political symbol. When the Dutch drove the Spanish from Holland in 1577, coins bearing the liberty cap were minted, and William of Orange likewise minted liberty cap coins to commemorate his bloodless seizure of the English throne in 1688.

But it was in two of the great republican revolutions of the 18th century the French and American revolutions that it became a truly popular icon. Now blended with the visual form of the ancient Phrygian cap, the liberty cap (bonnet rougue in French) appeared no longer merely as a representational device but as an actual item of headwear or decoration.

In France, on June 20 1790, an armed mob stormed the royal apartments in the Tuileries and forced Louis XVI (later to be executed by the revolutionaries) to don the liberty cap. In America, revolutionary groups declared their rebellion against British rule by raising a liberty cap upon a pole in the public squares of their towns. In 1781 a medal, designed by no less than Benjamin Franklin to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Libertas Americana (the personification of American Liberty) is depicted with wild, free flowing hair, the pole and cap of liberty slung across her shoulder.

The revolutions of France and America were viewed with considerable disquiet from Britain. But the pole and cap of liberty clearly made an impact on a young poet by the name of James Woodhouse, whose 1803 poem, Autumn and the Redbreast, an Ode, paid a striking tribute to the varied beauty of mushrooms:

Whose tapering stems, robust, or light,Like columns catch the searching sight,To claim remark where eer I roam;Supporting each a shapely dome;Like fair umbrellas, furld, or spread,Display their many-colourd head;Grey, purple, yellow, white, or brown,Shapd like Wars shield, or Prelates crownLike Freedoms cap, or Friars cowl,Or Chinas bright inverted bowl

This seems to be the first ever connection of the physical cap of liberty and the distinctive pixie cap of the mushroom. It was clearly not used because it was an established name (note his inventive imagery with the other shapes he describes), but rather coined by Woodhouse as a poetic flourish.

This metaphor caught the attention of a famous reader, Robert Southey, who had reviewed the volume in which the poem appeared in 1804. In 1812, Southey, along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, published Omniana, a two volume collection of table talk and miscellaneous musings intended to educated and inform the would-be conversationalist. Nestled in among attacks upon Catholic traditions and notes upon early English metre was the following observation on the Cap of Liberty:

There is a common fungus, which so exactly represents the pole and cap of liberty, that it seems offered by nature herself as the appropriate emblem of Gallic republicanism, mushroom patriots, with a mushroom cap of liberty.

Neither Woodhouse nor Southey and Coleridge identified the precise mushroom they had in mind with the cap of liberty metaphor. But as the discipline of mycology the study of fungi began to cement itself in the 19th century, a field driven by precisely the kind of gentleman scholars that would have kept a copy of Omniana on their shelves, the name was clearly and universally associated with Psilocybe semilanceata.

At that time, this was an utterly obscure and unremarkable little mushroom below the notice of any but devoted mycologists. As common names for mushrooms began to be included in mycological handbooks, Psilocybe semilanceata was routinely identified as the liberty cap.

Perhaps the earliest such example was in Mordecai Cookes 1871 Handbook of British Fungi. In 1894, Cooke published his Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms, which tellingly referred to Psilocybe semilanceata, within quotation marks, as cap of liberty, exactly the phrasing used by Coleridge, whom it would appear that Cooke was consciously quoting. By the 20th century, the name was firmly established.

The story could, perhaps, end there, but it has a delightful coda, in which the liberty cap mushroom was propelled from total obscurity as merely one of literally hundreds of innocuous LBMs (little brown mushrooms) known only by scientific specialists to perhaps one of the best known members of Europes mycological fauna.

Throughout the literature written by Europeans on the customs and religions of the peoples of Central America, there existed rumours of a magical food that the Aztecs called teonancatl (the divine mushroom). These rumours had long been discounted as superstitious mythologising, no more deserving of serious consideration than the shapeshifters of Norse and Icelandic saga. But in the early part of the 20th century, the divine mushroom captured the imagination of seemingly the most unlikely man on the planet, Robert Gordon Wasson, the vice president of the Wall Street banking firm JP Morgan.

Since the 1920s, Wasson had been obsessed with ethnomycology (the study of human cultural interactions with mushrooms). In the course of research that would lead to a voluminous bibliography, Wasson travelled to Mexico and there, after a long and frustrating search, finally found a woman who was willing to initiate him in the secrets of the sacred mushroom. He became (perhaps) the first white man to intentionally ingest a hallucinogenic fungus and published his experience in a 1957 Life article, Seeking the Magic Mushroom.

Wassons discovery was a sensation. In 1958 a team led by the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann the man who first synthesised (and ingested) LSD was able to isolate the main psychoactive compound in the mushrooms, which was named psilocybin as a nod to the fact that it was primarily mushrooms of the genus Psilocybe that possessed the chemical. Though species of the hallucinogen fungi were most concentrated in Central America, they began to be found worldwide. In 1969, an article in Transactions of the British Mycological Society established that none other than the innocuous little liberty cap contained psilocybin.

Though there are other psychedelic species that grow in Britain (including the distinctive red and white Amanita muscaria fly agaric which contains muscimol not psilocybin), the liberty cap has secured a reputation as the poster-child for Britains domestically growing psychedelic fungi. Modern shroomers cant resist punning on the liberty cap name with its associations to the transcendental liberation afforded by psychedelics and grassroots organisations such as the Shroom Liberation Front attest to this fact.

But in origin, the liberty caps name has nothing to do with psychologist and psychedelic drug advocate Timothy Leary (turn on, tune in, drop out) or the 1960s counter culture. Rather and somewhat improbably it traces a path back through the political revolutions of the early modern period, via the murder of the tyrant Julius Caesar, to a conical cap worn by Romes former slaves.

To place the cap on their heads was a sign of their liberation. To pluck the modern liberty cap from the ground could see you spending a cool seven years in jail.

Read more:

Liberty cap: the surprising tale of how Europe's magic mushroom got its name - The Conversation UK