Australia on Saturday became one of the first countries in the world to legalize ecstasy and hallucinogenic mushrooms for medicinal purposes in hopes of tackling certain mental illnesses.
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From July 1, licensed psychiatrists can prescribe the substances, also known as MDMA and psilocybin, to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and certain types of depression, according to a February decision by Australia’s Drugs Control Agency.
Canada and some states in the United States have approved the medical use of psilocybin and/or MDMA, but only in clinical trials or with special permissions.
Australia will reclassify these substances after the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration has rated them as “relatively safe” for use in a “medically controlled setting”.
Supporters of this decision hope that these substances can lead to significant advances in the treatment of certain mental disorders.
Mike Musker, a mental health and suicide prevention researcher at the University of South Australia, told AFP that MDMA would be useful in treating post-traumatic stress, while psilocybin could help with depression.
He explained that MDMA provides patients with “a sense of connection” that allows them to facilitate contact with the therapist and discuss their traumatic experiences.
The “psychospiritual effects” of psilocybin, “that you don’t get with traditional drugs,” he says, “can change the perception of yourself and your life (…) and with a bit of luck even make you want to live”.
Mr Musker doubts these drugs will be “widely used” by patients before 2024, saying the process will not be about “taking a pill and vanishing into thin air”.
Ecstasy, for example, would likely require three treatments over a period of five to eight weeks, with each session lasting around eight hours.
He said therapists would stay with patients while they were taking the drug, in sessions that could cost around A$1,000 each.
dr David Caldicott, an emergency medicine physician and clinical compounds researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra, told AFP the move gives Australia a head start in researching the benefits of medicines.
But Susan Rossell, a cognitive neuropsychologist at Swinburne University, said that while these treatments “have potential”, Australia is “five years ahead of what it should be”.
“For any other type of disease, whether cardiovascular disease or cancer, it’s impossible to get a drug to market as quickly as we did in this case,” she told AFP.
“There aren’t any drugs on the market that haven’t gone through phase three and phase four clinical trials – and that’s what we’re doing here.”
A Health Department spokesman told AFP that the decision “recognises that the evidence for the use of these substances in the treatment of mental illness is not yet well established.”
“However, for some patients (…) the benefits outweigh the risks, and options for patients with certain treatment-resistant mental illnesses are currently lacking.”
“I think the patient needs to be warned that (poor travel) is a possible side effect before they join the program,” Musker said.