Why did India ban Psilocybin Mushrooms?

Ancient texts like the Rigveda mention a mysterious plant called Soma, believed to be an entheogenic substance consumed by sages for divine insight. While no one knows exactly what Soma was, some theories suggest it could have been a type of psychedelic mushroom.
Even in tribal cultures across India, naturally occurring psychedelic plants and fungi have been used in spiritual ceremonies for centuries. So, why did India ban the humble Magic Mushroom?

The 1960s and ’70s saw a global explosion of interest in psychedelics, largely fueled by Western counterculture movement originating in the United States. We saw heards of hippies, spiritual seekers, and barefoot wanderers flocking to India through the Hippie Trail (a journey taken by members of the hippie subculture and others from the mid-1950s to the late 1970s) in search of enlightenment or an experience that their home countries couldn’t yet offer to them!
Places like Goa, Manali, and Rishikesh became hotspots for psychedelic exploration, with psychedelics being openly distributed across these safe microcosms of rebellion and continue to do so even now (but at a much smaller scale of course)

This movement was cut short by the global war on drugs and India was not going to be left behind. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) of 1985 was swiftly put into action. Psilocybin and psilocin were classified as Schedule I substances: “no medical use” and a “high potential for abuse”.

Oddly, they didn’t or rather couldn’t outlaw the growth of the naturally occuring Psilocybin mushroom itself i.e. if its growing in your house’s backyard it is not a criminal offence.

Modern needs call for an overhauling of the old systems. Countries like the US, Australia, UK and European Countries are leading the way for setting the record straight and decriminalising the growth and use of Psilocybin Mushroom. Ongoing research from institutions like Johns Hopkins, Imperial College London, and Harvard suggests that psilocybin-assisted therapy could be groundbreaking in treating depression, anxiety, PTSD, and even addiction.

Can India use its centuries old understanding of plant medicine to its advantage and be the path towards revolutionising the present mental health care systems? We at Mushroom Consciousness believe so.