Letters to the Editor: Attempted plane crash? Don’t blame a pilot’s alleged use of magic mushrooms

To the editor: In an eerie refrain from the 1960s, headlines are implicating “magic mushrooms” for a pilot’s alleged attempt to shut down an airplane’s engines during flight.

Such reporting leads to hysteria and misunderstanding of psychedelics, which in the past has caused us to lose decades of priceless time needed to research the benefits of these substances.

Authorities say the pilot told them he ingested mushrooms 48 hours prior to his mental health breakdown while flying in a cockpit jumpseat, but the effect of the psychedelic compound psilocybin lasts only for a few hours.

Psychedelics are well known to be beneficial in the treatment of certain mental health ailments, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and more — if they are properly used in a therapeutic setting. Michael Pollan’s 2018 book, “How to Change your Mind,” and many other recent publications explore this claim.

The suspect seems to have mental health problems that led to his alleged actions, but let’s not blame an innocent mushroom.

Rob Jacobs, Los Angeles