14 August 2023 , 09:57
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Taking drugs and looking after childing isn’t the usual mix most people would recommend but for one mum who takes “magic mushrooms”, she believes it actually makes her a more attentive parent. Tracey Tee, from Colorado, has now opened up about her first experience of taking the narcotic at the age of 44 and how she helps other parents try it.
After going on a camping trip with some friends, mum-of-one Tracey tried the psychedelic and says she instantly had the most “beautiful, confirming and joyful” experience she’d ever had. Speaking most recently to ABC News about her journey, she revealed the most intense emotion she felt was relief.
Chatting to the channel’s reporter Eva Pilgrim, she said: "I guess, relief might be one word that everyone could, like, universally understand. Like, your mood might change to a place where you feel more stable and more in a place of stasis."
Tracey went on: "I get really frustrated when people say to me, 'Oh, well, like, mushrooms are, you know, 'mommy's new little helper’. That is not what microdosing is. Microdosing is mommy is present and aware and showing up, maybe for the first time ever."
Since her first experience and beginning to microdose psilocybin, the chemical found in magic mushrooms, Tracey has founded the community Moms On Mushrooms, which promotes safe and educated ways of using the drug through guided courses and information. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, psychedelic drugs, which include psilocybin, are "drugs that primarily influence the way the brain processes the chemical serotonin” and can "temporarily alter a person's mood, thoughts and perceptions”.
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There have been several studies into the effects and benefits of microdosing psilocybin, for instance taking the drug in one-tenth to one-twentieth of a typical non-clinical dose, with many claiming it helps with anxiety, depression, and overall wellness.
Luckily for Tracey, in her home state of Colorado taking the drug has been completely decriminalised. Along with Oregon, they are the only two places in the whole of the United States to have changed the laws around magic mushrooms. While California, Washington, Michigan, and Massachusetts say people won’t get in trouble if they’re caught carrying them, as long as it’s only enough for personal use.
Tracey says there’s still a lot of fear around the use of mushrooms but says this is why education is needed as she’s come to realise that part of taking it is the “intention and the why”. Although there are studies that show psychedelics can help lift mood, it has also been known to trigger severe psychiatric episodes. There are also a number of other risks, including increased heart rate and blood pressure, impaired thought processes, nausea, vomiting, and anxiety.