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Texas Mushroom Conference held for second straight year at UT Austin

The event focused on the benefits of mushrooms as food and as medicine for people suffering from PTSD, depression and anxiety.

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Mushroom Conference was held on the University of Texas at Austin campus for the second straight year.

The group Myceliumatters put on Sunday's event. Panels focused on the benefits of mushrooms as food and as medicine.

UT’s Dell Medical School is conducting research and clinical trials into psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in mushrooms that’s being studied to treat PTSD, depression and other mental health disorders.

RELATED: 'Magic mushroom' psychedelic may help heavy drinkers quit

“The populations that are benefitting most from this treatment, or maybe most publicly from this treatment, are trauma victims,” Logan Davidson, the executive director of Texans for Greater Mental Health, said. “That can be folks that experienced combat-related trauma while they were deployed overseas, first responders who are encountering trauma every day in their lives, terminally ill patients, people who have been victims of violent crimes, folks who have been in severe car crashes.”

A bill paving the way for those studies, House Bill 1802, passed the Texas Legislature in 2021 with near-unanimous support.

“You actually see Rick Perry, former Governor of Texas and cabinet secretary in the Trump administration, has actually kind of emerged as one of the national advocates for psychedelic medicine and therapy here in the United States, especially supporting the veteran population,” Davidson said.

Possession and recreational usage of psilocybin is currently not legal in Texas, but advocates are hoping to get federal approval by the end of the decade.

RELATED: As demand for mushrooms grows, so does mycology interest in Central Texas

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