File – The artwork on display will be seen at the Psychedelic Science Conference on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. Australia was the first country to allow psychiatrists to prescribe certain hallucinogenic substances to patients with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. On Saturday, July 1st, Australian doctors could prescribe doses of MDMA, also known as ecstasy, for PTSD. (AP Photo/David Zarbowski, File)
SYDNEY (AP) — Australia has now become the first country to allow psychiatrists to prescribe certain psychedelic drugs to patients with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
From Saturday, Australian doctors can prescribe doses of MDMA, also known as ecstasy, for PTSD. Psilocybin, a psychoactive ingredient found in psychedelic mushrooms, can be administered to people with hard-to-treat depression. The country has placed the two drugs on the Drug Administration’s approved drug list.
Australian scientists were surprised by the move, which was announced in February and went into effect on July 1. One scientist said this puts Australia “at the forefront of research in this area”.
Chris Langmead, deputy director of the Center for Neuromedical Discovery at the Monash Institute of Pharmacy, said little progress has been made in treating persistent mental health problems in the past 50 years.
Growing cultural acceptance has led to two US states endorsing measures regarding the use of psilocybin. Oregon was the first state to legalize psilocybin use by adults, and voters in Colorado will decriminalize psilocybin in 2022. A few days ago, President Joe Biden’s youngest brother said in a radio interview: The president was “very open-minded” in conversations the two had about the benefits of psychedelics as a form of therapy.
In 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration designated psilocybin a “breakthrough therapy,” a label intended to expedite the development and review of drugs to treat serious conditions. Psychedelic researchers benefit from federal grants from Johns Hopkins University and others, and the FDA late last month announced that researchers planning clinical trials to test psychedelic drugs as potential treatments for a variety of medical conditions. issued a draft guidance for
Still, the American Psychiatric Association does not endorse the use of psychedelics in therapy, noting that the FDA has not yet made a final decision.
And health experts in the United States and other countries, including Australia, have warned that more research is needed into the effectiveness and degree of risk of psychedelic drugs that can cause hallucinations.
“The evidence remains insufficient and there are concerns that transition to clinical services is premature. Incompetent or poorly equipped clinicians may flood the space. No. Formal oversight of training, treatment and patient outcomes will be minimal or uninformed,” said Dr. rice field.
What’s more, the drug is expensive in Australia, costing about $10,000 (about $6,600) per patient to treat.
Mr Litnaitsky said Australians have a unique opportunity to obtain the drug for specific conditions.
“There is excitement about advances in pharmaceutical policy … about the prospect of being able to provide patients with better, more customized treatments without the constraints imposed by clinical trials and rigid protocols,” he said. said.
