The hallucinogen psilocybin appears to be safe and feasible to give to patients with advanced-stage cancer and anxiety according to a study published in Archives of General Psychiatry. The study reports it had a promising effect on mood. Psilocybin is the active ingredient in an illegal Class A drug in the UK called magic mushroom

Yet, in the USA, possession of psilocybin-containing mushrooms is illegal because they contain psilocin and psilocybin, both Schedule I drugs.

Mushrooms that contain psilocybin are used both recreationally, and traditionally, for spiritual purposes, as entheogens – psychoactive substance used in a religious, shamanic or spiritual context – with a history of use spanning millennia

The authors write as background information in the article:

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness that the psychological, spiritual and existential crises often encountered by patients with cancer and their families need to be addressed more vigorously.

From the late 1950s to the early 1970s, research was carried out exploring the use of hallucinogens to treat the existential anxiety, despair and isolation often associated with advanced-stage cancer. Those studies described critically ill individuals undergoing psychospiritual epiphanies, often with powerful and sustained improvement in mood and […]