Trippy news items

There was a very interesting piece in today’s Guardian about new clinical trials in which hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD and psilocybin (found in magic mushrooms) are being used to treat patients with a variety of conditions. These include headaches, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, and even helping patients come to terms with terminal illnesses.

Charles Grob, a professor of psychiatry at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Centre, is in the vanguard of the resurgence of scientific interest in psychedelics, having recently completed a trial that used psilocybin to help patients with terminal cancer come to terms with their illness. “I think there’s a perception these compounds hold untapped potential to help us understand the human mind,” he said.

The results of another small study don’t surprise me at all:

Prof Roland Griffiths at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore Maryland recently published a study of 36 healthy volunteers who were given psilocybin and then observed in the lab. … When the group were interviewed again 14 months later 58% said they rated the experience as being among the five most personally meaningful of their lives, 67% said it was in their top five spiritual experiences, and 64% said it had increased their well-being or life satisfaction.

There were two other rather trippy stories in the news today. The first is the story of the giant inflatable dog turd wreaking havoc in Switzerland. After breaking free of its moorings, the house-sized poo brought down a power line and broke a window, before finally coming to rest in the garden of a children’s home. Bet the kids loved it.

The second story, my favourite of the day, is that of the stolen gnome, reunited with his owner after travelling the world for seven months.

A snatched garden gnome has been returned to his owner with a photo album picturing him in 12 countries he had visited with his kidnapper.

Eve Stuart-Kelso said she was stunned to see her leprechaun Murphy standing outside her Gloucester home seven months after he disappeared.

He was also carrying a note putting his world tour down to “itchy feet”.

The album shows Murphy abseiling down a mountain, standing in a shark’s mouth and riding a motorbike.

Unfortunately, the Sun seems to be the best place to view the gnome’s travel photos (hit the “Click here for slideshow” button).

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