As States Begin to Legalize ‘Magic’ Mushroom Use, Boards of Pharmacy and Pharmacists Should Stay Alert and Informed

In the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy’s (NABP) Innovations publication, health care counsel Jonathan Keller, PharmD, and associate Carly Helman coauthored an article on how boards of pharmacy and pharmacists should take note of the increasing body of research on psilocybin, which is more commonly known as “magic” mushrooms.

First, the authors define psilocybin as a hallucinogenic substance derived from a variety of different naturally occurring mushrooms. They also describe how there has been a rise in the research, discussion and use of psilocybin as a legitimate therapeutic treatment tool in the United States. This has included federally funded psychedelic drug studies to state legalization of psilocybin and potential Food and Drug Administration-approved psilocybin- and MDMA-based drugs.

The authors provide an overview of the patchwork of state and municipal laws, such as the Oregon model, and pharmacy involvement in psilocybin. In conclusion, they state that while it is too soon to say if the legalization of psilocybin and similar psychedelic drugs will become a widespread trend across the U.S. or remain isolated to a small number of states, it looks likely that psilocybin and similar psychedelic drug therapies will eventually become part of the mainstream mental illness treatment pipeline.