Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Virginia, has received a federal grant to test whether psilocybin, the psychoactive compound in so-called magic mushrooms, combined with psychotherapy can help people with cocaine addiction, Cardinal News reported on Wednesday. The initial $623,000 award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) could grow to $3.5 million.
The treatment is experimental. The first phase is a small pilot designed mainly to assess safety and tolerability, and psilocybin is not approved by the FDA for any use.
