Recreational drug use is a part of life. Experimentation with illicit substances can be very enlightening or it can be incredibly destructive, depending on the circumstances – and the individual.

Like most things, moderation is a key component to leading a healthy, normal life. Adults should be able to make their own decisions regarding what substances we choose to ingest — and accept the consequences which follow from those decisions.

While some drugs are clearly detrimental to both body and soul — heroin, methamphetamine, crack, cocaine, nicotine and alcohol — recent studies have shown that not all recreational drugs are necessarily bad for you.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently published a study by the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, which concludes that THC (the primary psychoactive substance in marijuana) actually kills cancer and leukemia cells.

The study showed that medicinal marijuana oil made from cannabis buds induces apoptosis in cancer cells. Apoptosis is the process referred to as programmed cell death (PCD) which occurs in multi-cellular organisms.

The tainted cells essentially kill themselves. The benefits of medical marijuana in treating many ailments (including cancer and AIDS patients), while still hotly debated publicly, can no longer be disputed based on many years of hard-core scientific research — research conducted by highly respectable, government-supported agencies.

The NIH isn’t run by a bunch of dirty hippies. Yet scientific research into psychotropic drugs continues to be actively suppressed by the federal government for whatever reason.

Another recent study from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore documents the positive, long-lasting effects of psilocybin, the active substance in naturally-growing ‘magic’ or ‘sacred’ mushrooms, also known as “shrooms.” According to the results of this ground-breaking study, ingesting properly administered doses of psilocybin produces a mystical experience which includes the “transcendence of space and time” and offers profound insights into the nature of spirituality and of reality itself. Shrooms induce mystical encounters in the user, but according to the study subjects, they also experienced happiness, joy and euphoria along with numerous positive, long-lasting social benefits.

Sixty-one percent of the study volunteers described the psilocybin experience as the single most spiritually significant event of their lives, with 83 percent rating it in their top five. The vast majority of volunteers also attributed the experiences to increasing their overall sense of well-being and contentment. For many, the experiments positively and permanently changed their outlook on life, on other people and on their own personal behavior. Additionally, no long-term side effects in healthy people were noted.

The study, Psilocybin occasioned mystical-type experiences: immediate and persisting dose-related effects was published online in the peer-reviewed journal Psychopharmacology in 2011, and it’s just the latest in a series of experiments designed to examine the effects of psilocybin — shrooms — which have been used for centuries by various cultures around the world for divining purposes, for healing, and for religious ceremonies.

Jerome Jaffe, M.D., from the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine, served as the very first White House ‘Drug Czar’ during the Nixon Administration. “The Hopkins psilocybin studies clearly demonstrate that this route to the mystical is not to be walked alone, he said. “But they have also demonstrated significant and lasting benefits; for example in dealing with the psychological distress experienced by some terminal patients…should properly informed citizens, not in distress, be allowed to receive psilocybin for its possible spiritual benefits, as we now allow them to pursue other possibly risky activities, such as cosmetic surgery and mountain-climbing?”

Indeed. The findings reinforced previous research showing that psilocybin, when administered under well-designed clinical conditions, has a high probability of leading to virtually identical mystical and/or spiritual experiences similar to the spontaneous episodes reported by mystics and shaman across all cultures throughout the ages – and not leading to drug abuse or insanity.

Shrooms have already been proven effective in treating depression, alcoholism and other disorders. The research has also shown that these mystical awakenings are often followed by positive changes in attitudes, mood, life satisfaction and personal behavior — including altruism and forgiveness. Some of the follow-up comments from the study participants are fascinating and enlightening. They include:

• “…Virtually eliminated all religious practices; much more spiritual now. Accepting of my parents and have a more open and honest dialogue with them now. Less judgmental …”
• “I try to judge less and forgive more. I no longer worry about money.”
• “I have an increased commitment to spiritual practices; I think my heart is more open to all interactions with other people …”
• “I feel I relate better in my marriage. There is more empathy: a greater understanding of people and understanding their difficulties and less judgment.”
• “…Increased time for meditation. I think I’m even warmer toward people, and more accepting. I now believe I have something important to tell people about how the universe works.”
• “I take more time in nature; with art. I feel closer to (my) children and parents. I am more comfortable with friends and acquaintances. I am more committed to my career…”
• “I have a stronger desire for devotion, have increased yoga practice and prayer…I need less food to make me full. My alcohol use has diminished dramatically.”
• “…Less concerned with the appearance of ‘spirituality’, while realizing more that everything is sacred. I feel more accommodating and forgiving toward both friends and strangers and less anxious to label them or convert them to my viewpoint.”

So you can readily see why magic mushrooms are so dangerous!