Emily Johnson
Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms, have been used for thousands of years in various cultures for shamanistic and religious purposes. In the 1960s, they became increasingly popular in the United States, especially among the youth and the hippie movement. The exact number of Americans who used psilocybin mushrooms during that decade is unknown, but their usage was significant enough to capture the attention of the media and influence popular culture. The mushrooms were also the subject of scientific research at the time, with top medical researchers studying their potential therapeutic properties.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Magic mushrooms in the 1960s | First hailed as a wonder drug that could cure everything from addiction to existential anxiety |
| Became popular among the hippie movement, which rejected materialism, traditional fashions, and the classical understanding of family | |
| The hippie movement supported civil rights and opposed the war in Vietnam | |
| The media was intrigued by the potential of these new psychedelic drugs | |
| Musical icons of the 1960s, including Bob Dylan and John Lennon, visited Oaxaca searching for magic mushrooms | |
| The Beatles claimed "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" was not about LSD | |
| Timothy Leary was called "the most dangerous man in America" by Richard Nixon | |
| Magic mushrooms were studied at Harvard University in the early 1960s | |
| Use of psilocybin mushrooms in the US | There were approximately 32 million lifetime psychedelic users in the US in 2010, including 17% of people aged 21 to 64 years (22% of males and 12% of females) |
| The rate of lifetime psychedelic use was greatest among people aged 30 to 34 (total 20%, including 26% of males and 15% of females) | |
| Use of psilocybin mushrooms has increased since the 1970s in the US and worldwide, likely due to the dissemination of simple home cultivation techniques and instructions on finding wild mushrooms |
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What You'll Learn
Magic mushrooms were first considered a wonder drug
Magic mushrooms, or psilocybin mushrooms, have a long history of use that dates back to ancient times. They are commonly depicted in Stone Age rock art in Africa and Europe and are also represented in pre-Columbian sculptures and glyphs throughout the Americas. Indigenous American cultures have used psilocybin-containing mushrooms for generations in spiritual and religious ceremonies.
In the 1950s and 1960s, magic mushrooms became popular in the United States, where they were first considered a wonder drug with therapeutic properties. This perception was influenced by the experiences of Gordon Wasson and his wife, Valentina P. Wasson, who participated in a mushroom ceremony in Oaxaca, Mexico. They documented their experience in a 1957 article in Life magazine, describing the psychedelic visions and the effects on their consciousness. Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann isolated the compounds psilocybin and psilocin from the mushrooms and produced pills for research purposes. Psychiatrists, doctors, and researchers considered psilocybin a promising treatment for various conditions, including alcoholism, addiction, and anxiety.
Timothy Leary, a psychology professor at Harvard University, played a significant role in popularizing magic mushrooms in the United States. Inspired by the Wassons' article, Leary travelled to Mexico to experience psilocybin mushrooms himself. Upon returning to Harvard in 1960, he and his colleague Richard Alpert started the Harvard Psilocybin Project, experimenting on students and themselves. They believed that magic mushrooms were a wonder drug that could address issues such as addiction, anxiety, and recidivism among prisoners.
During the 1960s, magic mushrooms also became associated with the hippie movement, which embraced a counterculture that included music, literature, and art. The movement advocated for civil rights, opposed the Vietnam War, and sought to overthrow societal norms. The popularity of magic mushrooms among the hippies and their perceived threat to the establishment led to a clampdown by the American government. By the late 1960s, the war on drugs had begun, and President Richard Nixon called Timothy Leary "the most dangerous man in America." The Controlled Substances Act designated psychedelics as Schedule 1 drugs, hindering research and contributing to the perception of magic mushrooms as dangerous and illegal.
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The hippie movement embraced them
The hippie movement of the 1960s embraced magic mushrooms as a way to enhance their countercultural ideals and bring about social change. The hippies rejected materialism, traditional values, and the Vietnam War, and they believed that if they could get the president to "trip", he would agree with them. Magic mushrooms, with their hallucinogenic effects, provided an escape from the social and political turmoil of the time, which included the assassinations of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, and the escalating war in Vietnam.
The hippie movement's interest in magic mushrooms was influenced by the indigenous use of psychoactive mushrooms in Mexico, which was publicized by Gordon Wasson and his wife, Valentina P. Wasson, in the late 1950s. The Wassons participated in a mushroom-fueled ritual held by the Mazatec tribe in southern Mexico and wrote about their psychedelic experiences in a 1957 article for *Life* magazine. This sparked interest in the potential therapeutic benefits of magic mushrooms among top medical researchers in the early 1960s, with research burgeoning at Harvard University.
The increasing availability of information on mushroom cultivation and usage likely contributed to the growing popularity of magic mushrooms among young Americans in the 1960s. Young tourists from the United States began travelling to Oaxaca as early as 1962, and it is rumored that musical icons such as Bob Dylan and John Lennon also visited the region in search of magic mushrooms. The media's fascination with these new psychedelic drugs, as well as their use by countercultural figures, further popularized their use among the American youth.
The psychedelic movement of the 1960s was also influenced by the work of Timothy Leary, who advocated for "consciousness expansion" and the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. However, Leary's approach was criticized by some, such as Hunter S. Thompson, who believed that Leary ignored the potential dangers of psychedelic use. Despite the growing popularity of magic mushrooms, the increasing restriction of drug laws in the 1960s and 1970s curbed scientific research into their effects. Today, magic mushrooms are classified as a Schedule I controlled substance in the United States, indicating their high potential for abuse and lack of accepted medical use.
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They were used in indigenous ceremonies
While there is no exact figure on how many Americans took mushrooms in the 60s, the drug was popular among the youth, particularly those who were part of the hippie movement. The hippie movement, which was against the Vietnam War and advocated for civil rights and the overthrow of society, used magic mushrooms and other psychedelics to achieve their goals. The media was also intrigued by the potential of these new psychedelic drugs, and musical icons of the time, such as Bob Dylan and John Lennon, are rumoured to have visited Oaxaca in search of magic mushrooms.
The use of psilocybin mushrooms, or magic mushrooms, in indigenous ceremonies has a long history. Indigenous American cultures have used these mushrooms in religious, divinatory, or spiritual contexts. They are often consumed in small group community settings, enhancing group cohesion and reaffirming traditional values.
In Mesoamerica, the mushrooms were consumed in spiritual and divinatory ceremonies before being documented by Spanish chroniclers in the 16th century. Despite attempts to suppress these traditions, the use of psychedelics in ceremonies persisted and was passed down through generations by indigenous shamans and healers.
Among the Aztecs, psilocybin mushrooms were known as "teonanácatl," or "flesh of the gods," reflecting their revered status. They were consumed during religious ceremonies and psychedelic tea ceremonies, which were believed to induce visionary states for divination, healing, and communing with the gods.
In the Mazatec village of Huautla de Jiménez, Mexico, Valentina Pavlovna Wasson and R. Gordon Wasson became the first known European Americans to participate in an indigenous mushroom ceremony in 1955. They publicized their experience, including an article published in Life magazine in 1957. This led to Huautla de Jiménez becoming a countercultural pilgrimage destination for hippies in the mid-1960s in pursuit of magic mushrooms.
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They were popular among musicians
In the 1960s, magic mushrooms were first considered a wonder drug that could cure addiction and existential anxiety. They were also used as a form of psychotherapy. The decade saw the emergence of psychedelic music, which was influenced by the use of psychedelic drugs such as DMT, LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin mushrooms. This trend was observed in both America and Britain, with folk and rock musicians incorporating psychedelic sounds into their music.
The first musical use of the term "psychedelic" was by the New York-based folk group The Holy Modal Rounders in their version of "Hesitation Blues" in 1964. Folk/avant-garde guitarist John Fahey also recorded several songs in the early 1960s that experimented with unusual recording techniques, such as backwards tapes, and novel instrumental accompaniment including flute and sitar. His nineteen-minute "The Great San Bernardino Birthday Party" anticipated elements of psychedelia with its improvisations and odd guitar tunings.
The use of psychedelic drugs was also popular among musicians who were a part of the hippie movement. The hippie movement rejected materialism, traditional fashions, and the classical understanding of family. They were against the war in Vietnam, supported civil rights, and advocated for the overthrow of society.
The Beatles, for instance, were known for their use of LSD and other psychedelics. According to George Harrison, the band's experimentation with psychedelics was necessary for them to continue through the '60s. The first mention of LSD on a rock record was the Gamblers' 1960 surf instrumental "LSD 25". The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, released in October 1966, was one of the first rock albums to include the word "psychedelic" in its title.
It is also rumoured that musical icons of 1960s America, including Bob Dylan and John Lennon, visited Oaxaca in search of magic mushrooms. However, these rumours were never substantiated.
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Their use was criminalised in the 1970s
While there is no exact data on how many Americans took magic mushrooms in the 1960s, the drug was popular among the hippie movement, which advocated for the overthrow of society and rejected materialism, traditional fashions, and the classical understanding of "the family". The hippie movement was also against the war in Vietnam and supported civil rights.
The use of magic mushrooms was also popular among young tourists, who began travelling to Oaxaca as early as 1962 to seek out the drug. It is also rumoured that musical icons such as Bob Dylan and John Lennon visited Oaxaca in search of magic mushrooms, although these rumours were never substantiated.
The media was intrigued by the potential of these new psychedelic drugs, and they played a role in popularising them. The increased availability of information on how to cultivate psilocybin mushrooms also contributed to their popularity.
However, the growing popularity of magic mushrooms and other psychedelics among American youth worried the American government. In 1968, Richard Nixon was elected on a platform of law and order. Nixon would later call Timothy Leary "the most dangerous man in America".
In 1970, Nixon introduced the Controlled Substances Act, which classified psilocybin as a Schedule I controlled substance, meaning it had "no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse". This effectively ended all government-sanctioned psychedelic research and curbed scientific exploration into the effects of psilocybin and other hallucinogens. The criminalisation of psilocybin mushrooms in the 1970s was part of the US government's broader war on drugs, which also targeted other psychedelic substances such as LSD, mescaline, and DMT.
While the 1970 Controlled Substances Act made psilocybin mushrooms illegal at the federal level, there have been recent efforts at the state and local levels to decriminalise and legalise their use. For example, in 2020, Oregon voters passed a ballot measure to decriminalise psilocybin and legalise its supervised use, making it the first state to do so. Other states, such as California, Michigan, and Colorado, have also passed legislation to decriminalise or legalise the use of psilocybin for medical or therapeutic purposes.
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Frequently asked questions
There is no exact figure for how many Americans took mushrooms in the 60s. However, it was a period of intense political and social change, with the hippie movement embracing the use of magic mushrooms and other psychedelics.
The hippie movement rejected materialism, traditional values, and the war in Vietnam. They embraced the use of psychedelics, including magic mushrooms, as a way to enhance their ideals of peace, love, and unity.
Mushrooms were not specifically mentioned in legislation during the 1960s. However, increasingly restrictive drug laws in the 1960s and 1970s curbed scientific research into psychedelics.
The effects of psilocybin mushrooms include hallucinations, euphoria, changes in perception, and distorted sense of time. They have been used for spiritual and therapeutic purposes, often in small group settings to enhance group cohesion.
