Is more support the new aperol spritz? I’d noticed many of the women in my life were skipping alcohol for microdoses of mushrooms, so I decided to write about it for ELLE magazine.
According to the Global Drug Survey, magic mushroom use doubled from 2015 to 2020. But most aren’t tripping out; rather, they’re using shrooms to lift their mood and energy levels—and see it as a healthier vice than booze. (See: no hangovers.)
“They just make you happy and you have a good time—it’s not like alcohol where you’re always needing more and chasing the buzz,” says a West coast hair stylist who started selling mushrooms about a year ago. “Most of my customers are young, female, working professionals like me,” she adds.
Scientific research on the efficacy of microsdosing is limited, but the therapeutic benefits of large doses of psilocybin (the hallucinogenic compound in magic mushrooms) are showing promising results in clinical trials ranging from depression and PSTD to addiction. (Maybe the little doses have perks too?)
Loved falling down the research rabbit hole for this story. Read the full story in the April issue of ELLE.
