Starting July 1, THIS nation will allow psychedelics for treatment of PTSD, depression

Starting Saturday (July 1), Australia will become the world's first country to allow doctors to prescribe MDMA and magic mushrooms to treat psychiatric conditions such as depression and Post Trauma Stress Disorder (PTSD). Although the decision was taken in February earlier this year, it remains a controversial move.

Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Australia's drug watchdog, approved the move, following a three-year process which included extensive consultation with experts.

For long, it has been believed thatpsychedelic drugs have the ability to treat mental health conditions. However, the stigma around such drugs caused governments to take a reactionary stance. The experiment in Australia, though, will be closely monitored across the globe and could potentially set a precedent to follow.

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MDMA, a synthetic drug, also known as "molly" or "ecstasy" is usually linked to rave parties. As for magic mushrooms, they are known for providing an excessively trippy experience to the user due to the presence of "psilocybin", an active compound.Both drugs are currently "prohibited substances" and authorities can only use them in closely controlled clinical trials.

The advocates hope that the drugs will be one day used for treating eating disorders, alcohol dependence and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Critics not enthused by the move

While a big lobby is aggressively batting for the legalisation of synthethis as well as natural hard drugs, some critics are concerned that research is yet to show which patients are best suited to the treatments.

"It’s not for everybody. We need to work out who these people are that are going to have bad experiences, and not recommend it,”Susan Rossell, a psychiatrist at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne was quoted as saying by Nature.

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Rossell is conducting Australia'sonly active clinical trial testing psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression. Her study revealed that 10 to 20 per cent of the participants who received the psychedelic drugs had a "really terrible time". She fears that if administered properly, the drugs could give seriously bad trips and leave them more prone to psychological issues.

Rossell and her colleagues questioned TGA by co-authoring a report in May. It asked the watchdog why didn't it consult them, given their rareexperience of administeringpsilocybin to treat depression.

“Instead, it seems the TGA has yielded to pressure from the public and lobby groups to increase access to these experimental treatments, outside of clinical trials.Sufficient levels of evidence have not yet been generated for broad-scale implementation to be justified.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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