1. Natural Hallucinogens & LSD by Andrew Johnson

2. History of Magic Mushrooms
Bce - Central American cultures build temples to mushroom gods and carve "mushroom stones" found in Mexico & Guatemala.
290 ce - Chang Hua's "Record of the Investigation of Things“ describes what may be hallucinogenic mushrooms in Chin Dynasty China.
1521 CE - The use of hallucinogenic mushrooms and peyote are driven underground as use of "non-alcohol" intoxicants is forbidden by Europeans in Mexico.
First hand experience report of intentional psilocybin-containing mushroom ingestion published in Science magazine, including detailed descriptions of visual effects, uncontrollable joking and laughter, and a rough timeline.

3. History of Magic Mushrooms cont.
R. Gordon Wasson publishes an article about psychoactive mushrooms in Life Magazine, the first popular media coverage of their existence.
1960 & 61 - Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert begin a series of experiments with Harvard graduate students, using pure psilocybin.
Possession of Psilocybin & Psilocin are banned federally in the U.S. after the passage of the Staggers-Dodd Bill (Public Law ) which amended the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act is passed. It places most of the known hallucinogens (LSD, psilocybin, psilocin, mescaline, peyote, cannabis, & MDA) in Schedule I.

4. History of LSD
Albert Hofmann, a chemist working for Sandoz Pharmaceutical in Basel, Switzerland, is the first to synthesize LSD-25. He discovered LSD, a semi-synthetic derivative of ergot alkaloids, while looking for a blood stimulant.
Congress passes new drug safety regulations and the FDA designates LSD an experimental drug and restricts research. The first LSD related arrests are made by the FDA.
1966 – lsd becomes illegal in California
1970 – an estimated 1-2 million americans have used lsd
Later that year - The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act is passed. It places lsd in schedule I

5. USAGE
According to a Healthline News report an estimated 32 million Americans have used LSD, magic mushrooms, or mescaline at some point in their lives.

6. What Makes Mushrooms magical?
The main ingredients in mushrooms is psilocybin (a hallucinogenic alkaloid) and the related compound psilocin (a metabolite of psilocybin and the actual psychoactive agent)
After ingestion, the psilocybin is enzymatically convert into psilocin

8. Wow. Such magic. So altered.