The war on drugs has been ongoing for a very long time. We could consider the beginning of it to be in the 1970s when ex-President Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act, effectively banning psychedelic research. Truthfully, though, it began way before then. The Volstead Act, which implemented the 18th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibited the production, distribution, and sale of intoxicating liquors, signaled the start of the Prohibition Era in 1920.
Before the 1920s, humans freely used psychedelic plants, mushrooms, and herbs as medicine, therapy, and in spiritual rituals and ceremonies all over the world. Their medical benefits were widely known and there were no inhibitions or controversies surrounding the idea of ingesting psychedelics.
After a long period of strict control by our world’s governments, we are now starting to revisit these magical and healing psychedelic substances for their healing properties. Medical practitioners and scientists are studying and researching psychedelics and vouching for their use in therapy to treat illnesses and mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, and more.
The War on Drugs
In June 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse to be the “public enemy number one” and increased federal money for drug-control organizations and drug-treatment initiatives. This marked the beginning of the War on Drugs. To coordinate federal efforts to combat drug misuse, the Office for Drug Abuse Law Enforcement, the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, and the Office of Narcotics Intelligence merged in 1973 to form the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Up until Ronald Reagan’s presidency, which started in 1981, the War on Drugs was a very minor part of government law enforcement efforts. Reagan significantly widened the scope of the drug war and his preference for incarceration over treatment resulted in a sharp rise in the number of people detained for nonviolent drug offenses—from 50,000 in 1980 to 400,000 in 1997. His wife, Nancy, was the driving force behind the “Just Say No” campaign, a privately sponsored initiative to inform kids about the risks associated with drug use, which was launched in 1984.
Increased media attention to the crack epidemic that began in the early 1980s and the ensuing public unease about it were major factors in the War on Drugs. Reagan’s tough attitude on drugs was supported politically in part due to the growing concern over illicit drug use. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was passed by the U.S. Congress, allocating $1.7 billion to the War on Drugs and establishing a number of “mandatory minimum” prison terms for various drug-related offenses.
Early in the twenty-first century, popular support for the harshest components of the drug war declined due to questions about its efficacy and growing knowledge of the racial imbalance of the punishments it imposed. Reforms were therefore implemented at that time, such as the growing number of states legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
Although the War on Drugs is still officially ongoing, it is being carried out on a far less aggressive scale than it was in the 1980s.
Are Shrooms Legal?
Psilocybin is still illegal throughout Canada, despite being widely advertised online and in select Canadian cities, such as Vancouver and all of British Columbia. Cannabis is now legal everywhere in Canada, as it was not too long ago, and hopefully soon psilocybin will follow suit. Health Canada began enabling a restricted number of people to legally use psilocybin for therapeutic purposes in 2020 through the use of s.56 exemptions from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Non-study volunteers were able to obtain psilocybin legally for the first time since the substance was made illegal in Canada in the 1970s. Tons of shroom studies are being conducted in Canada now as well, as their medical benefits are coming to light.
In the United States, cities like Ann Arbour, Michigan, Denver, Oakland, California, Oregon, and Seattle have passed measures that essentially decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms and sometimes other psychedelics derived from plants or fungi.
In countries like the Netherlands, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Brazil, psilocybin mushrooms have been decriminalized by their governments.
What Are the Medical Benefits of Magic Mushrooms?
Because of the mind-altering qualities attributed to psychedelics like psilocybin and the area of the brain that it affects, numerous research and reports have suggested analgesic benefits for cancer pain, phantom limb pain, and cluster headaches.
Some studies have found that psilocybin reduces fear in patients and provides calming relief to those experiencing PTSD. In research on terminally ill cancer patients, Stephen Ross, MD, a psychiatrist at NYU Langone, discovered that 80% of study participants experienced alleviation from the anguish that had persisted for more than 6 months after receiving a single dose of psilocybin. Patients said that they believed their quality of life had improved after receiving psilocybin therapy. They said that they desired to participate in more extracurricular activities, had more energy, had better connections with their family members, and worked more effectively. The researchers came to the conclusion that if psilocybin could lessen psychological anguish in cancer patients who were at the end of their lives, it might also work for less severe physical illnesses linked to psychological distress, like PTSD, OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), anxiety, depression, etc.
Psilocybin’s action has been likened to a brain reboot, creating new connections while turning off connections that may have contributed to depression.
Ketamine therapy is also currently authorized. Similar to MDMA, ketamine is not a typical psychedelic; instead, it is a popular anesthetic and illicit club drug due to its dissociative and trance-like effects. But extensive research has also demonstrated that ketamine-assisted therapy helps lessen the signs and symptoms of depression. Nowadays, some businesses provide patients with ketamine therapy at home by shipping them tablets, which they must take while being monitored remotely.
We at Get Magic Mushrooms have a variety of high-quality shroom products to offer to anyone who needs it. Please check out our online store as well as our blog page to get more insight and information into psilocybin shrooms and their benefits.