Studies have shown psychedelic mushrooms
can treat or even cure depression,
and some San Diego moms
are turning to it for help.
It's called micro dosing.
It's not legal, but a North County
mom admits she does it and it works.
CBS's Shannon Handy shares
her story and the local push
to decriminalize it. Do you feel safe
talking to me, talking in
front of our cameras about
this? I wouldn't be here if I
didn't feel safe and Michaela
who asked, so we not use her last name
knows what she's doing is illegal,
but the North County mom feels
so strongly about the benefits
of microdosing magic mushrooms.
She wants to share her story.
It's so necessary for some of us
to be out and forward because
we need to move the needle.
Weirdos scene involves taking small
doses of Isabella drug and various
homemade forms including pills,
gummies, even chocolate,
a teaspoon. Depending on how much
you would want to put in here.
So a dose that would give you like a
classic psychedelic effect would be
anywhere between a gram to 567 grams,
and so a microdose is a
fraction of a gram. Michaela
started microdosing about three
years ago when she was pregnant
with her 2 1/2 year old.
And Martin Goodwin.
She was struggling with alcoholism
and says microdosing helped her stop.
I've heard that
silybin mushrooms can help combat
addictive behavioral patterns,
and so I kind of wanted
to approach it head on.
Folly Martins birth. Michaela
struggled even more, seen the
anxiety and depression she's dealt
with for years intensify she now
microdoses on a regular basis. What
does it feel like a glow?
You know, an underglow.
It makes those emotions
to connect with my son.
Toddler way more readily
available. According to Michaela,
her relationship with
microdosing is a unique saying.
There are other local moms from
all walks of life doing the same.
What the leading people to want to
dose is actually the desire to be
more present in their life and I
think that totally redefines what
we think about as a drug user.
The stigma behind psychedelic states
back to the 1960s when mushrooms
and LSD were labeled as dangerous
party drugs that can melt your mind.
Then came the war on drugs during the
Nixon administration when studies on
psychedelics were banned decades later.
That's all changing as more and more
studies are being conducted showing
stylus sybrant the active compound and
magic mushrooms can help with depression
and even in cancer patients, decreases
in both depression and anxiety that
Matthew Johnson is the
director of the Johns Hopkins.
Center for Psychedelic and
Consciousness research.
While he stands behind
the benefits of silybin,
he cautions the majority of research
conducted is related to macro dosing,
sparingly in controlled environments,
not microdosing for long periods of time.
It's not that they're seeing them like ohh,
they're less depressed when they
continue to take psylocybe,
and it's like no, you take
psylocybe and in two sessions.
Under monitoring and you're feeling better.
A week later, a month later,
six months later,
contrast that to microdosing.
We know almost nothing about
microdosing scientifically.
Johnson worries if still a sybian is misused.
It could be harmful or lead
to a so-called bad trip.
He says. Education is crucial.
Meanwhile, some question if still a
sybian could open the door to drug abuse.
Still, Michaela and others are
pushing to decriminalize it.
Denver was the first city in the
United States to do so in 2019,
followed by others including Oakland.
Santa Cruz in Seattle.
Now entire states are jumping on
board with Oregon voters already
approving a measure to do the same.
There's also another bill being
pushed forward across the entire
state of California called SB 519.
Michaela's hopeful saying if
the state doesn't take action,
she plans to launch an
initiative here in San Diego.
For now, she'll continue speaking out
about how microdosing has helped her
being in my body hurt so much. She
often posts about it to her
combined nearly 200,000 followers.
On her Instagram and Tick
Tock pages Mama della Mico,
which means mother of the mushroom.
I had no idea that this level
of happiness and contentment
in life would be possible.
Before I found the mushroom China handy CBSH.