Re: Magic mushrooms, Dec 2 letter.
The Tū Wairua clinical trials using taonga provided by the atua and used by our tipuna are connected to a growing body of international evidence about potential benefits. Our marae whānau are very interested in utilising this taonga to help our own and others.
Psychedelic therapies have been common amongst indigenous communities for thousands of years and Western science is only just discovering the power of these natural remedies.
Unlike benzodiazepines and other synthetic drugs with significant side effects, especially when over-prescribed, hallucinogenic plants are ranked as one of the lowest risk drugs available. For example, the NZ Drug Harms Ranking study published this year in the Journal of Psychopharmacology by 27 of the leading drug researchers in Aotearoa, compared 24 different groups of drugs. The scoring looked at the risk to both individual users and wider society. Alcohol has the greatest risk with a score of 88 and methamphetamine is second on 71; cannabis scored 32; benzodiazepines 19; MDMA 7; and hallucinogens including psilocybin score just above no drugs at 4.
If the letter writer is genuinely interested in the research, we are regularly updating the project website as plans progress: www.tuwairua.org
