Over the past few years, the acceptance of microdosing psychedelic fungi as a medical treatment has grown slowly but steadily — in mainstream American media, in official laboratories, among some politicians and even in homes.
Microdosing psychedelics is a practice that involves taking generally one-tenth of a standard “trip” dose (by capsule, dropper or nasal spray), so that one’s senses aren’t affected to the point of full hallucination, but perception sharpens and serotonin is increased. Documentaries and TV series like Netflix’s Fantastic Fungi and Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers have helped set the stage for a more open mushroom conversation; they both demystify and explore the healing power of the spore-bearing, soil-bound fungus.
In 2022, in California, State Sen. Scott Wiener is hoping to pass a bill, Senate Bill 519, that would allow the possession and sharing of some hallucinogenic substances — including magic mushrooms, MDMA, ketamine and LSD, but would not permit the selling of those drugs. (In Oregon, the Oregon Psychiatric Physician’s Association opposed legalization because psilocybin is not FDA approved and clinical trials are still ongoing.)
And much like cannabis’ transition from stigmatized plant to decriminalized cash cow, today’s wellness industry is now embracing mushrooms as another form of nature’s medicine by putting real capital and academic research behind it. A small Johns Hopkins study, for instance, found in 2020 that psilocybin treatments helped relieve symptoms of severe depression.
“What we have access to are medicines that have been used, tried and tested for thousands of years, albeit through Indigenous communities,” says Douglas K. Gordon, CEO of Silo Wellness, a legal psychedelic and functional mushroom company founded in 2018 in Oregon (the only U.S. state to legalize psychedelic mushrooms). Silo hosts weeklong retreats (from $3,195) in Jamaica (where psilocybin has never been illegal) allowing clients to experience the benefits of psychedelics in a controlled environment.
Part of Silo Wellness’s mission is to incorporate traditional wisdom and rituals surrounding psychedelics and share them with people in a safe and ethical way. Explains Silo’s chief science adviser Dr. Parag Bhatt, a neuropharmacologist and cognitive neuroscientist and intake coordinator for Silo’s retreats, “For microdosing, it’s sub-perceptual; we’re talking about a non-psychedelic event, where you’re not seeing the hallucinations. What you’re getting is mostly a turning up of the lights and opening of the mind.” Bhatt adds that psychedelics “have a chemical structure that mimics that of serotonin.” (With the family of Bob Marley, Silo also launched Marley One, a product line of tinctures made…
Read more:Inside the Growing Wellness Trend of Psilocybin Mushroom Microdosing