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‘Magic mushroom’ psychedelic may help heavy drinkers quit

This photo provided by NYU Langone Health in August 2022 shows an example of a psilocybin capsule used in a study which helped heavy drinkers cut back or quit entirely, published Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022, in JAMA Psychiatry. While it’s not known exactly how psilocybin works in the brain, researchers believe it increases connections and, at least temporarily, changes the way the brain organizes itself. (NYU Langone Health via AP) This photo provided by NYU Langone Health in August 2022 shows an example of a psilocybin capsule used in a study which helped heavy drinkers cut back or quit entirely, published Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022, in JAMA Psychiatry. While it’s not known exactly how psilocybin works in the brain, researchers believe it increases connections and, at least temporarily, changes the way the brain organizes itself. (NYU Langone Health via AP) Mary Beth Orr poses for a photo in her home, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022 in Burien, Wash., south of Seattle, while holding medicine bottles used to give her doses of psilocybin, the compound in psychedelic mushrooms, as part of a study to try and help heavy drinkers cut back or quit entirely. Orr used to have five or six drinks every evening and more on weekends before she enrolled in the study in 2018. She stopped drinking entirely for two years, and now has an occasional glass of wine, and credits psilocybin for her progress. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) Mary Beth Orr holds an embroidery panel from her "stitch journal" as she poses for a photo in her home, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022 in Burien, Wash., south of Seattle. Orr used to have five or six drinks every evening and more on weekends before she enrolled in a study in 2018 to see if the compound in psychedelic mushrooms could help heavy drinkers cut back or quit entirely. She stopped drinking entirely for two years, and now has an occasional glass of wine, and credits psilocybin for her progress. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) Mary Beth Orr holds an embroidery panel from her "stitch journal" as she poses for a photo in her home, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022 in Burien, Wash., south of Seattle. Orr used to have five or six drinks every evening and more on weekends before she enrolled in a study in 2018 to see if the compound in psychedelic mushrooms could help heavy drinkers cut back or quit entirely. She stopped drinking entirely for two years, and now has an occasional glass of wine, and credits psilocybin for her progress. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) Mary Beth Orr poses for a photo in her home, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022 in Burien, Wash., south of Seattle. Orr used to have five or six drinks every evening and more on weekends before she enrolled in a study in 2018 to see if the compound in psychedelic mushrooms could help heavy drinkers cut back or quit entirely. She stopped drinking entirely for two years, and now has an occasional glass of wine, and credits psilocybin for her progress. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)