- By Tiffany Wertheimer
- BBC News
Jun 30, 2023 at 8:38pm BST
Updated 2 hours ago
Image source: Getty Images
picture description,
Magic mushrooms have hallucinogenic effects due to the active ingredient psilocybin
Australia is the first country in the world to legalize the use of psychedelics to treat some mental illnesses.
Licensed psychiatrists can now prescribe MDMA for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder and magic mushrooms for certain types of depression.
The controversial move was hailed as groundbreaking by many mental health scientists and experts.
However, others believe the move was too hasty and should not be overstated.
Experts say there is still a risk of a “bad trip,” where the user has an unpleasant experience while under the influence.
And the therapy comes at a price: Australian media reports that a single course could cost tens of thousands of dollars.
MDMA – also known as party drug ecstasy – is a synthetic drug that acts as a hallucinogen. It increases the user’s energy levels and sensory experiences and distorts their sense of time.
Magic mushrooms that grow naturally also have hallucinogenic effects due to the active ingredient psilocybin.
While Australia is the first country in the world to regulate the drugs as medicines, clinical trials are also ongoing in the US, Canada and Israel.
Under the new rules, which came into force in Australia on July 1, licensed psychiatrists can prescribe MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psilocybin for depression that has resisted other treatments.
Psychedelics use is carefully monitored and it is not a matter of “take a pill and walk away,” said Dr. Mike Musker, a mental health researcher at the University of South Australia.
He called the move “groundbreaking” and told AFP that in the case of MDMA, for example, the patient would likely receive three treatments over a period of five to eight weeks. Each treatment lasted about eight hours, with the therapist staying with the patient the entire time.
However, patients should not expect a miracle cure.
“I’ve read of stories of people having what you call bad trips, or actually reliving their trauma, and so we have to exercise great caution,” said Dr. musicians
Professor Susan Rossell, a cognitive neuropsychologist at Melbourne’s Swinburne University, said that while psychedelics do have the potential for therapeutic use, the move has come too quickly.
“If you look at interventions … for any other type of disease, whether it’s cardiovascular disease or cancer, you can’t get a drug to market as quickly as this has happened,” she told AFP.
Prof Rossell, who is leading Australia’s largest study into the effects of psilocybin on depression, added that more research is needed to determine the therapy’s long-term outcomes.
Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) shocked many in the medical and scientific world in February when it reclassified MDMA and psilocybin so they could be used for therapeutic purposes.
It declared the drugs “relatively safe” when used in a “medically controlled setting” for patients “with serious mental illness.” Otherwise, both MDMA and psilocybin are illegal in Australia.
The TGA acknowledges that there are unknowns and inconclusive evidence, but says there is “promising evidence” that controlled therapeutic use of the drugs can improve some people’s mental health and that “the benefits for some patients … the risks will outweigh”.
The regulator states that there are currently no approved products containing MDMA or psilocybin. However, the reclassification means that psychiatrists can access and legally distribute certain drugs containing those drugs even if they haven’t been evaluated for safety or efficacy.