Researcher Says Magic Mushrooms And LSD Are Just As Safe As Playing Soccer

That long, strange trip might not be as damning to your health as your D.A.R.E. officer said it was.  Teri Krebs is a neuropsychiatrist at Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She studies studies psychedelics and MDMA scientifically, a.k.a. not like the dude who is always trying to sell you incense and patchouli oil at your local mall’s poster shop. In a new paper, Krebs claims that a trip down the proverbial rabbit hole is about as dangerous as playing soccer. Take this with a grain of salt:

In the past 50 years, people have used at least half a billion doses of psychedelics. Overall, psychedelics are not particularly dangerous when compared with other common activities, such as riding a bike or playing soccer.

Based on extensive human experience, it is generally acknowledged that psychedelics do not elicit addiction or compulsive use and that there is a lack of evidence for an association between psychedelic use and birth defects, chromosome damage, lasting mental illness or toxic effects to the brain or other body organs.

She also claims that “drug laws banning the use of psychedelic drugs are ‘not based on science,'” according to Elite Daily and that “Bad trips are really the only negative side effect of hallucinogenic drugs” (via).

Hmmm… That’s it? Kind of seems like a pretty big side effect, psychologically speaking.

Remember: She’s talking about the drug itself, not the questionable things it might cause you to do. Make good decisions, kids, because it’s not a license to get freaky. The hallow words of Hunter S. Thompson on acid from Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas ring especially true here:

“That was the fatal flaw in Tim Leary’s trip. He crashed around America selling ‘consicousness expansion’ without ever giving a thought to the grim meat-hook realities that were lying in wait for all the people who took him too seriously . . . All those pathetically eager acid freaks who thought they could buy Peace and Understanding for three bucks a hit. But their loss and failure is ours, too. What Leary took down with him was the central illusion of a whole life-style that he helped to create . . . a generation of permanent cripples, failed seekers, who never understood the essential old mystic fallacy of the Acid Culture: the desperate assumption that somebody—or at least some force—is tending the Light at the end of the tunnel.”

When expanding your mind with cosmic consciousness on a psychedelic, remember it’s still just a chemical that does crazy shit to your brain at the end of the day. It’s not some magic panacea of universal love and understanding. TL;DR: The hippies who still try to preach that pseudo garbage (…usually selling grilled cheeses and shitty glass one-hitters at String Cheese Incident shows) are just as full of shit in 2015 as they were in 1969.

Don’t be an idiot.

Now if you don’t mind me, I’m going to throw a Grateful Dead show on with a crunchy “Help On The Way” > “Slipknot” > “Franklin’s Tower” and mellow out for the rest of the evening. Space your face.

Magic mushroom pic via Shutterstock

[H/T: Elite Daily]

Brandon Wenerd is BroBible's publisher, writing on this site since 2009. He writes about sports, music, men's fashion, outdoor gear, traveling, skiing, and epic adventures. Based in Los Angeles, he also enjoys interviewing athletes and entertainers. Proud Penn State alum, former New Yorker. Email: brandon@brobible.com