Johns Hopkins study finds magic mushrooms help people quit smoking
Magic mushrooms might just be the new quit-smoking hack.
A Johns Hopkins study found that people using psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) were more than six times more likely to quit smoking than those using nicotine patches.
The research, published March 10, tracked 82 smokers and was led by psychiatry professor Matthew Johnson.
17 people in mushroom group stayed smoke-free
Participants got either psilocybin or nicotine patches, plus 13 weeks of therapy.
By the six-month mark, 17 people in the mushroom group stayed smoke-free, while only four managed it with patches.
More trials are on the way
Earlier studies showed even longer-term success with psilocybin.
Since most quit-smoking medications help fewer than a third of people, these results are pretty promising.
More trials are on the way to see how psychedelics could change addiction treatment for good.