Quitting rates could mushroom

A small-scale study has indicated that just two or three experiences with ‘magic mushrooms’ can help long-term tobacco smokers quit their habit, according to a story by Michelle Fay Cortez for Bloomberg News.

The study’s 15 volunteers were given pills containing psilocybin, the active hallucinogenic ingredient in magic mushrooms, as part of a cognitive behavior therapy program at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, US.

Six months later, 12 of the 15 participants remained smoke-free, according to the study results published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Existing medicines such as Pfizer’s Chantix, the most potent aid for smoking cessation, had a success rate of about 35 percent at six months, while nicotine patches and gums were less successful, said Matthew Johnson, a study researcher and an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins.

The results had shown unique promise in the first study ever of psilocybin for treating smoking addiction and might lead to new approaches to treat other types of addiction, Johnson said.

The full story is at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/magic-mushrooms-help-long-time-smokers-kick-habit-study/article20529006/