The Doors of Perception & Happiness

Like some of my peers, I dabbled in psychedelics back in the day, mind you never while operating heavy equipment or removing the fuel rods at a nuclear power plant. These hallucinogenic experiences were not merely enlightening, they made me a better person -- more humble, more appreciative of the interactions between people and nature and, yes, happier.

None of these experiences were as elating as those with psilocybin mushrooms -- so-called "magic mushrooms" -- including a number of trips taken after I had harvested the slender-stalked crowns from cow pies in the dawn's early light from a certain pasture in a sub-tropical region that will remain nameless.

As study after study shows, my experience with psilocybin was typical, and it is a crying shame that a non-addictive, low-toxicity substance that shows such tremendous promise in the treatment of alcoholism, drug dependence, personality disorders and even cancer can land the user in jail.

Now come the results of an experiment funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse that have been published online by the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Fourteen months after taking psilocybin, 64 percent of the volunteers said they still felt at least a moderate increase in well-being or life satisfaction, including being more creative, self-confident, flexible and optimistic. And 61 percent reported at least a moderate behavior change in what they considered positive ways.

I can relate.