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CNN Entre Mundos talks to hallucinogenic mushroom advocates in the US

Denver, Colorado, was the first American city to decriminalize psilocybin, the hallucinatory substance present in “magic” mushrooms, in 2019. Since then, referendums in other cities in the American West, such as Oakland and Santa Cruz, in California, went the same way.

In this Sunday’s episode (7) of Between worlds Pedro Andrade talks to users, producers and activists linked to hallucinogenic mushrooms in the USA.

Generally speaking, and not just about those linked to psychedelic experiences, the “mushroom is the fruit of a larger organism that looks like mold. And that organism is called mycelium,” explains mushroom grower Zachary Hedstrom.

In addition to the recreational function of hallucinogenic mushrooms, there is a current that defends their medicinal use.

One such advocate is Allan Floyd, who switched to consuming these types of mushrooms after developing PTSD and death anxiety when he was diagnosed with a terminal illness more than a decade ago.

At the time, doctors estimated her lifespan at 25 months. Faced with his mental condition, Floyd was informed by professionals that, with his diagnosis, a federal law allowed the use of some psychedelics, including psilocybin.

After he started taking it, “somehow, at least with me, it made my brain notice the change and made my mood improve a thousand percent,” Floyd reports.

Rabbi Benjamin Gorelick also advocates the legalization of mushrooms. According to him, his experience with the fruits was responsible for making him resume his religious beliefs.

“Even though I was raised in a religious community, I had never had a true divine experience, and I think most people never have. But when I first tried mushrooms, I was in an apartment in Denver with a friend, we were lying in bed and I could see and feel it all,” he recalls.

O Between worlds airs every Sunday at 9pm on CNN and on digital platforms.

Source: CNN Brasil

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