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After Legal Win, What's Next for Magic Mushrooms?:
On August 4, Canada's Health Minister Patty Hajdu granted, by way of a Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, permission for four terminally-ill Canadians to consume psychedelic drugs. The decision comes after months of careful maneuvering by TheraPsil, a Canadian non-profit seeking to treat end-of-life distress with psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms.
Dr. Bruce Tobin, a B.C.-based psychotherapist and TheraPsil's founder and chair, called the decision a game-changer. "It will contribute a whole new class of pharmacological tools and resources to the profession," he said. "Those of us who have been veterans in the field of clinical psychology understand all too well that there's just a very wide range of patient cases that the state-of-the-art isn't up to treating very well."
While the current exemption applies only to the approved patients seeking treatment for end-of-life anxiety and depression, TheraPsil's ultimate goal is legalized clinical access to medical-grade psilocybin within Canada's existing public healthcare framework.
[...] So far, the most credible applications of psychedelic medicine appear in the therapeutic treatments foregrounded by groups like TheraPsil. In Oregon, voters will see statewide access to legalized psilocybin therapy as an item on the November ballot. The Yes On IP34 initiative is petitioning the Oregon Health Authority to create a licensing system that regulates the use of psilocybin by trained practitioners. The movement is spearheaded by Tom and Sheri Eckert, husband-and-wife therapists and founders of the Oregon Psilocybin Society. "Psilocybin therapy is not a panacea," says Sheri, "but it's pretty unique in its potential to address a spectrum of mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and some addictions."
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 24 2020, @02:12AM (7 children)
Sounds good, doesn't it? Lock up the loonies. But, do you know why the liberals got the support to shut the asylums down? It wasn't just the money saved. Do some internet searches for the abuse that was happening behind the doors of those asylums. Maybe some more searches to see how police and family members abused the system to have someone locked up who never needed to be institutionalized. The Kennedy family has their own skeleton in the closet - her name was Rosemary. Locked up in secrecy, and kept out of public view, because the family was embarrassed - a common reason to have someone institutionalized.
I am one who believes the institutions should have been overhauled, and left in place. A lot of people should have gone to prison, to be replaced by people who cared, and laws should have been written to prevent so many being committed against their will. But, we have what we have, because of corruption.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Monday August 24 2020, @02:26AM (5 children)
First time I've heard Reagan called a liberal.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 24 2020, @02:39AM (1 child)
Liberals wanted the institutions shut down for human rights reasons. Conservatives wanted them shut down for financial reasons, including that whole Prison for Profit scheme that is still going on today. As stated above, I think the system should have had a thorough shaking up to fix all the corruption, and to ensure humane treatment of those who needed the system.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2020, @01:51PM
> to ensure humane treatment of those who needed the system
Allowing loonies to run roughshod through society is inhumane, that's why we need to bring asylums back.
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Monday August 24 2020, @05:10PM (2 children)
Reagan is a liberal compared to the current Republican party.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday August 24 2020, @08:20PM (1 child)
Reagan was a murderous scumbag who should have ended his life in prison.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday August 25 2020, @11:19AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2020, @06:58AM
cf. Bedlam.
The asylum, not the word coined for it.