Smokers who desire to quit smoking may want to try a "magic mushroom", according to a recent study.
This research, conducted by a team from John Hopkins University, found an impressive success rate in a pilot study that aimed to help heavy smokers kick the habit. Psilocybin, a psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, was given to 15 recidivist smokers. After six months, 12 out of 15 of the subjects managed to stop smoking after three psychedelic sessions of psilocybin.
This represents 80% success rate, which is generally unheard of in the treatment of tobacco addiction. Prior to this, studies have so far reached a 35% success rate from the drug varenicline, which helps reduce nicotine cravings.
According to the study's lead author, Matthew W. Johnson, quitting smoking was not a simple biological response to medications, and in the case of this study, to psilocybin. It was the smokers' subjective experience when taking psilocybin that changed them, he said.
In the 1950s, psychiatrists at a Canadian hospital, Humphrey Osmond and Abram Hoffer, were successful in using LSD therapy to assist alcoholics to stop drinking. Unlike psilocybin which is a natural psychedelic, LSD is a synthetic drug. Still, Osmond and Hoffer concluded that the experience of the users of both drugs were very similar.
For the John Hopkins study, the 15 subjects were prepped up for four weeks with cognitive behavior therapy, with exercises such as journaling, visualization, focusing on intent to quit, reasons for quitting, among others. Each subject underwent three psilocybin sessions- first a moderate dose and two high doses. Prior to the sessions, they were also asked to focus on their anti-smoking motivations.
When asked about the possible reasons for their quitting success, most of the 13 subjects who remained smoke-free for six months said, "by changing the way you orient yourself toward the future, such that you now act in your long-term holistic benefit, rather than acting in response to immediate desire."