The Therapeutic Goods Administration announced on Friday that, from July, approved psychiatrists would be able to prescribe MDMA (ecstasy) for post-traumatic stress disorder and psilocybin (found in magic mushrooms) for treatment-resistant depression. The move makes Australia the first country in the world to officially recognise psychedelics as medicines.
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists president, associate professor Vinay Lakra, said the college "cautiously welcomed" the decision, and had been monitoring ongoing research in the area.
"We need to take some baby steps rather than one giant leap," he said. "So this is a baby step in the right direction and what it does is allow us to do things in an appropriately safe way for everyone ... and if necessary take a step back as well."
[...] Psychiatrists will need to get approval by a human research ethics committee, then approval under the TGA's authorised prescriber scheme. To get those approvals they must demonstrate their training, robust patient selection and evidence-based treatment protocols, as well as patient monitoring. They must also satisfy governance and reporting criteria.
"These measures are necessary because there is only limited evidence that the substances are of benefit in treating mental illnesses, and only in controlled medical settings," the TGA said in a statement.
"In addition, patients may be vulnerable during psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy because of their altered state of consciousness."
Because there are are currently no approved Australian substances, the psychiatrist would also have to apply for a licence to import them.
"I think what that does is it gives everyone some time to test those processes," Lakra said. "It also provides the safeguards to make sure that everyone is doing the right thing and is supported in the provision of these treatments."
[...] "With the potential for increased access to MDMA and psilocybin-assisted therapies, it is now critically important that high-quality therapist training be made available to promote safe therapeutic conditions when working with these medications," she said.
The CSIRO scientist Peter Duggan told the ABC it was an "intriguing and exciting" prospect. "These drugs work to improve your mood, and they do seem to have quite a long lasting effect from one single dose, apparently," he said.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Kell on Wednesday February 08, @07:15AM (1 child)
I, for one, welcome our new tweaked-out overlords.
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 08, @04:28PM
They're not the ones who take the drugs. Indeed, we are handing control of psychedelics to institutions and pharmaceutical companies, rather than the people (and cultures) who have decades (millennia) of experience with them.
Doctors and Therapists are Becoming the Only People Who Can Legally Administer Plant Medicines and Psychedelics. A Disaster is Brewing [www.afterlife.coach]
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Wednesday February 08, @09:12AM (2 children)
Just so I know what to look up so I have the correct symptoms.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 08, @11:51AM (1 child)
Just find the bloke who will prescribe you shrooms for your anxiety. Or you know, grow them yourself.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 08, @04:34PM
I'll just leave this here... https://njelliott.medium.com/expand-your-mind-how-to-grow-psychedelic-mushrooms-using-uncle-bens-rice-cd4e272301e6 [medium.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Rich on Wednesday February 08, @12:30PM
The shrooms look rather fine to me, but for stronger psychedelics (i.e. LSD), mentally weak patients (e.g. "treatment-resistant depression") are said to be at risk for post-trip psychosis. Is there experience with the outcome of psilocybin treatments (or even actual numbers for LSD)?
I'm somewhat surprised about the MDMA approval, because there was research into the long effects of its substance group and it looked like it could leave permanent damage. What is the current state of knowledge about the damage done to serotonin functions by ring-substituted amphetamines (i.e. MDMA)?