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Comment by dmix | Hacker News Reader

Sounds like he wants medical mushrooms via doctors not decriminalize psychedelics

Are there even other ones besides psilocybin that’s used for potential medical stuff? Is it even researched beyond the very early days? Is that even the point of this shift to decrim?

I’m sure if they make a policy to decriminalize it after x months a team of doctors could put together basic safety guidelines for adults

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You're supposed to have to demonstrate harm to criminalize something, not demonstrate safety to legalize it. That's why other herbs and the shit they sell at GNC are so unregulated. The only difference here is their profit.

What you’re missing is the massive legal category of “prescription drugs”. In some countries, you can just go to the pharmacy and buy Lipitor or Viagra or levothyroxine or antibiotics without a prescription. The United States is not one of those countries. Requiring a drug to be prescribed in a medical setting is the default legal stance in this country, except it takes years of waiting on the FDA to even get that far.

> You're supposed to have to demonstrate harm to criminalize something

Normatively, I agree with you, but descriptively, that's false. Legislatures can criminalize almost anything they want as long as what they criminalize doesn't offend the constitution.

There are many fungi, or chemicals derived from them, that are used in medicine. Penicillin was from fungi. They're using turkey tail mushroom in combo with other cancer treatments. I think PSK (anti-cancer theraputic in Japan, I think) was originally from shiitake. Lions mane mushroom has been studied as a nootropic for stroke recovery. Relishi, chaga, cordesepes, and others are out there too, although I'm not sure to what degree they have been studies or employed in mainstream medicine.

Lion's Mane, for one

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