A mother (Michelle) and her daughter (Lacey) take a therapeutic dose of MDMA with an experienced facilitator (Mikaela) in an attempt to heal generational trauma created by addiction, neglect, racism, divorce and alcoholism. As they begin to peak they are joined by Lacey's children, bringing together 3 generations as they dive deeper into forgiveness, acceptance and forging a new vision for their future. Many thanks to Mikaela and the family for their extreme generosity in allowing us to bear witness to this extraordinary experience.

New research reveals that the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, in combination with talk therapy, could be a promising treatment for people with alcohol addiction. In a study published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry, scientists found that patients taking this drug, called psilocybin, had an 83 percent decline in heavy drinking, while those who took a placebo experienced a 51 percent decline.

Addictive disorders are a burden on both the productivity and the well-being of humanity.1 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that every year in the U.S. roughly 600,000 Americans die from drug overdoses and health complications directly due to drug use (excluding indirect death, like homicide).2-4 Over 80% of deaths are due to tobacco, making it the leading cause of preventable death.

Oakland on Tuesday became the second U.S. city to decriminalize magic mushrooms after a string of speakers testified that psychedelics helped them overcome depression, drug addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Microdosing psychedelic drugs on a regular basis might be a safe way to improve your mood and productivity, according to a new study published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. Microdosing is a practice in which you take a very small or "sub-perceptual" dose of drugs in order to reap the benefits of the drug without experiencing too much of its consciousness-altering effects. In the recent study, researchers collected reports from more than 1,000 participants in 59 countries, most of whom microdosed once every three days for a month.

Laura Delano recognized that she was “excellent at everything, but it didn’t mean anything,” her doctor wrote. She grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, one of the wealthiest communities in the country. Her father is related to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and her mother was introduced to society at a débutante ball at the Waldorf-Astoria.

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that use of the synthetic psychedelic 5-methocy-N,-N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) appears to be associated with unintended improvements in self-reported depression and anxiety when given in a ceremonial group setting. 5-MeO-DMT is a psychedelic that is found in the venom of Bufo Alvarius toads, in a variety of plants species, and can be produced synthetically.

Researchers found unlikely heroes in keeping the world from authoritarianism - magic mushrooms. Scientists from the Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College London showed that psilocybin, the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms, makes people less likely to embrace authoritarian views like fascism and more connected with nature. The study, authored by Taylor Lyons and Robin L. Carhart-Harris, a leading researcher in this field, shows that psilocybin treatment can lead to lasting changes in such mindsets.

Oregon's Secretary of State has just approved language for a potential ballot initiative that would legalize psychedelic mushrooms. Now organizers need to get 117,578 signatures to actually put their initiative on the ballot. If they get the requisite number of signatures, Oregonians could vote on the decriminalization of psilocybins, or magic mushrooms, in the 2020 general election.

Preliminary research suggests that psilocybin-based treatment can improve emotional processing in depressed patients. The new findings are reported in the scientific journal Psychopharmacology. Psilocybin is the primary mind-altering substance in psychedelic “magic” mushrooms. The drug can profoundly alter the way a person experiences the world by producing changes in mood, sensory perception, time perception, and sense of self.

When I finally puked on the fourth night, I felt an odd sense of pride. Inside the loud, stuffy ceremony room, people were laughing, crying, chanting, gyrating, and, yes, vomiting, around me. When my time finally comes, I think: Just aim for the bucket and keep your ass above your head like the shaman told you. I try to wipe my face but can’t grab the tissue paper because it melts every time I reach for it

A lot of us associate the word serotonin—a neurotransmitter that allows brain cells to communicate back and forth—with sleep and with stress. And while it is partly responsible for how much sleep we got last night and how stressed we are at work today, there’s still much to learn about the chemical nerve. Researchers from Imperial College London think they’re onto something as they argue that a two-pronged model of how serotonin acts be incorporated into its present understanding. They believe that this updated model will transform the way we treat mental illnesses, such as depression, addiction, and anxiety.

One of the most valuable potential benefits of the classic hallucinogens (psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, San Pedro cactus, Ayahuasca) is what is known as "ego death". The death of the ego is often described as the experience of losing one's sense of identity. Typically occurring at or near the peak of a psychedelic journey, the phenomena of ego death is both feared and revered. Losing the sense of who you think you are can have dramatically powerful effects, both positive and negative.

In a country so wary of drug abuse that it limits the sale of aspirin, Pal-Orjan Johansen, a Norwegian researcher, is pushing what would seem a doomed cause: the rehabilitation of LSD. It matters little to him that the psychedelic drug has been banned here and around the world for more than 40 years. Mr. Johansen pitches his effort not as a throwback to the hippie hedonism of the 1960s, but as a battle for human rights and good health.