MDMA and magic mushrooms to be used as medicines in Australia in world first
MDMA and the active ingredient in magic mushrooms are to be used to assist therapy sessions in Australia.
The move makes Australia the first country to classify psychedelics as medicine on a national scale.
The changes come into effect on Saturday, and will see psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) used for treatment resistant depression.
MDMA, also known as ecstasy, will be trialled as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Several studies have shown that MDMA can have positive effects in patients suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be asked to approve MDMA for medical use this year, it has been reported, with a view to treating PTSD.
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Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration, or TGA, said, “Psilocybin and MDMA are relatively safe when used in a medically controlled setting under the supervision of appropriately trained healthcare professionals and in the dosages that have been studied in clinical trials."
Clinical psychiatrist Dr Colleen Loo, a professor of psychiatry at the University of New South Wales and the Black Dog Institute in Sydney, said, “It is early compared to the usual process of developing and rolling out new treatments."
“The main issue is that the public understand this, and don’t think that the TGA making these drugs available means that the level of evidence of efficacy and safety is comparable to that usually required for new treatments, before they are approved for clinical use,”
Other countries have licensed the use of psychedelic drugs, but on a more limited scale.
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Israel’s Ministry of Health approved the use of MDMA to treat PTSD in 50 patients in Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center plus psychiatric hospitals in Be’er Yaakov, Lev Hasharon, and Be’er Sheva.
Speaking to Israeli news outlet Haaretz in 2019, Ministry of Health official Bella Ben-Gershon said, "There is a considerable population in Israel of people suffering from PTSD that is resistant to other treatment."
In 2017, the US FDA awarded the drug ‘breakthrough status’, which means it should be fast-tracked as a potential treatment.
What's the legal status of MDMA and magic mushrooms in the UK?
In the UK, MDMA is classified as a Class A drug, with a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment for possession, and a life sentence for possession with intent to supply.
The Drugs Act 2005 means that fresh psychedelic mushrooms are illegal in the UK, although mushroom spores (which do not contain psilocybin) are not regulated.
Prior to 2005, fresh mushrooms had been legal (only dried or prepared mushrooms were banned) and were widely sold in the UK.
Possession of magic mushrooms carries a sentence of up to seven years, while cultivating or supplying mushrooms carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
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