Could ‘Magic Mushrooms' Treat Severe Depression? A Major Study Aims to Find Out

It's the first time a clinical trial of the hallucinogen has reached Phase 3

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AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File FILE – In this May 24, 2019, file photo a vendor bags psilocybin mushrooms at a pop-up cannabis market in Los Angeles.

The largest-ever clinical trial of psilocybin — the psychedelic compound found in "magic mushrooms" — is set to begin by the end of December.

It's the first time a clinical trial of the hallucinogen has reached Phase 3, one of the last steps necessary before an experimental drug can go to the Food and Drug Administration for possible regulatory approval.

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The research will look at whether the drug can effectively treat depression when other therapies have failed.

Researchers are hailing a possible breakthrough in the treatment of alcoholism and other addictions, and the secret may lie in hallucinogenic mushrooms. Kris Sanchez reports.

For more on this story, go to NBC News.

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