In the 1970’s it was believed by some medical practitioners that psychedelic drugs like LSD had the ability to combat alcoholism.
Initially, that theory was primarily rejected. However, results from a recent clinical trial (featuring 93 alcoholics) indicate that Psilocybin, the hallucinogenic component found in “magic mushrooms,” might very well be the key to reducing alcohol misuse. The rigorous experience lasted for 12 weeks, during which time the male participants consumed five drinks a day, and the female participants consumed four beverages a day. These examples of intake were labeled “heavy drinking days” by the research workers. Overall, there were 93 participants, ranging from ages 25 to 65, in this study. Some of the subjects were given two doses of Psilocybin, while the others were simply given a placebo intended to have no effect whatsoever. As the research program concluded, it was discovered that the “psilocybin group” reduced their excessive consumption of alcohol so much that only drank heavily on 10% of the days, whereas their counterparts in the “placebo group” drank heavily, around %25 of the time.
In the end, nearly %50 of the subjects who were given psilocybin quit drinking altogether. In contrast, only %24 percent of the subjects who were given placebo pills instead managed to stop drinking excessively. The study was orchestrated by the lead doctor at the NYU Langone Center, Michael Bogenschutz. A practitioner who believes that the results of his study may have accelerated the medical field to the point of a revolutionary approach to reducing alcoholism.