Shroom for Improvement: The Implications of Psilocybin Research on Scheduling and its Impacts in the Medical and Legal Fields

Psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found organically in psychedelic mushrooms, is currently classified as a Schedule I drug with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I classification regulations on psilocybin largely makes doing significant research infeasible due to bureaucratic and financial barriers. Despite this classification, some researchers have studied the impact of ingesting psilocybin as a means of treating mental disorders and other conditions. Current and past research shows promising results for psilocybin’s ability to alleviate symptoms associated with mental disorders while also having a low abuse potential. In the interest of public benefit for the discovery of novel treatments and insight into brain function, psilocybin must be redesignated to allow for more extensive research in order to determine its therapeutic potential.