Mushmaps connects patients with doctors, local providers, educational information and news related to entheogens, psychedelics, mental health and well-being. We’re a portal that provides free directory listings for safe and legal access to psilocybin assisted-therapy, cannabis, CBD and kratom products, as well as other natural and holistic wellness products located locally and online. We promote these tools of healing, well-being, recovery and therapy among other life-style changes, bridging the gap between the wisdom of antiquity and modern science.

Mushmaps is committed to providing accessible knowledge and education on historical and traditional background information, scientific medical research and the organizations and people progressing the current legal reformation. With new scientific evidence and research challenging commonly held misconceptions regarding entheogens, neuroscience and psychotherapy, we believe it’s everyone’s personal freedom and right to have access to up-to-date knowledge and resources concerning the current political events shaping this emerging industry. We’re contributing to this movement by providing access to transparent and reliable information, news and resources. To help people adopt these new perspectives, we also serve as a presence for local communities promoting education, activism and inclusion.

Our views reflect that unbiased peer-reviewed medical research on psychedelic substances, actively curbing widespread mycophobic misinformation and evolving cultural perspectives can help people heal individually and as a society in the future. By adopting new perspectives through research findings, clinical development and education, entheogenic plants and fungi can flourish as a protected and valued part of our social, legal and healthcare systems.

Substances are a kind of matter that possess physical properties. Any intoxicating or stimulating chemical or drug is considered a substance, such as entheogens and psychedelics. 

 

Entheogens (from Ancient Greek, meaning “becoming divine within”) are psychoactive substances, typically of a plant or fungi origin, used for religious, ritual or spiritual purposes. 

 

Psychedelics are substances that have psychoactive effects and alter the normal state of consciousness via serotonin 2A receptors. These can include changes in cognition, perception, feelings and emotions. 

 

Hallucinogens are a wide group of drugs that can alter a person’s awareness, thoughts and feelings by causing hallucinations that seem real, though they’re not.   

Psychedelics are divided into two groups: “classic” psychedelics and modern chemicals.

Classic psychedelics are substances that affect the brain’s serotonin system by binding to the serotonin 2A (5HT-2A) receptor, such as LSD, psilocybin, mescaline and DMT.

Modern chemicals, such as MDMA, ketamine and cannabis, target different areas of the brain but are known to have psychedelic properties that produce some psychoactive effects.

Holistic Wellness

Holistic wellness is rooted in healing a person’s overall health– mind, body and spirit– rather than healing them as subparts and usually involves natural remedies or alternative therapies.

One natural remedy that’s been used to holistically treat humans for centuries is entheogens– a natural plant or fungi that have psychoactive effects. Two of the most widely used entheogens are ayahuasca and psilocybin.

Ayahuasca and psilocybin treatments have been used to help cure several illnesses, from anxiety and depression to drug addiction. These substances have also been used as a tool for personal enlightenment and spiritual growth, helping people feel a sense of connectedness and compassion with others and the world around them.

In terms of holistic wellness, entheogenic plants and fungi have proven to be extremely helpful and effective and have been used to help people sustain a happy and balanced life.

Alternative medicine

Although other psychedelic substances, such as LSD and MDMA, aren’t found in nature and therefore not considered entheogens, their psychedelic properties have similar effects on patients who use psychedelics as alternative medicine or in a psychotherapeutic setting– especially in cases where clinical drugs and traditional therapy proved to be ineffective.

When Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann introduced LSD to the medical community in 1960, it led to a deeper understanding of the brain’s neurochemistry and helped therapists effectively treat a wide range of illnesses. Unfortunately research, despite promising results, came to a halt due to LSD’s influence in the counterculture movement, making it illegal in most parts of the world.

Now, more than 50 years after LSD was outlawed, the FDA and DEA are approving psychedelic studies. These studies not only allow for a deeper understanding of psychedelic substances but also open the door for therapists to treat a wide range of illnesses, from PTSD to physical trauma.

Similar to LSD, the euphoric and invigorating effects of MDMA quickly turned it into a party drug and was ultimately banned as a Schedule I drug in 1985, despite the substantial documentation of MDMA’s therapeutic benefits.

Decades after MDMA was banned, studies done by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) demonstrate how MDMA is sufficiently safe at low doses. As a result of these studies, MAPS has secured FDA-approved studies to use MDMA to treat veterans, cancer patients and people who struggle with addiction and PTSD.

Although there are many obstacles one must go through to get official FDA approval for psychedelic studies, it’s become increasingly more popular among researchers, scientists and therapists.

Scientists began showing interest in petrochemicals– chemical products obtained by oil refining– in the early 1900s. Although some of the first products developed from petrochemicals were plastics, chemists knew that they could use petroleum to recreate synthetic versions of basic vitamins and cure conditions caused by vitamin deficiencies.

During this time, John D. Rockefeller owned 90% of all petroleum refineries in America. He saw the demand for petrochemicals as an opportunity to monopolize the medical industry the same way he famously monopolized America’s oil market, but the only way he could achieve this was by pushing out his competition.

At the turn of the 20th century, natural and herbal medicine, as well as holistic healing, was practiced by nearly half of America’s doctors and medical colleges, using extensive knowledge from European and Native American traditions and remedies.

Unfortunately, the only way Rockefeller’s plan would work was if he replaced holistic healing with petrochemicals and allopathic medicine. By 1910, Rockefeller had convinced Congress that America needed a standardized medical education and gained control of the medical system.

Since then, America’s medical system has become dependent on Rockefeller’s model and still dismisses, and in some cases criminalizes, many natural alternatives that have proven to be far less harmful and addictive than allopathic medicine.