Australia has become the first country in the world to legalise the use of psychedelics to treat some mental health conditions.
Approved psychiatrists can now prescribe MDMA to those suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and magic mushrooms for some types of depression.
The controversial move has been hailed as a game-changer by many scientists and mental health experts.
However, others say the move has been too hasty and should not be over-hyped.
And the therapy comes at a cost, with Australian media reporting one course could cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Magic mushrooms, which grow naturally, also have hallucinogenic effects due to the active compound psilocybin.
While Australia is the first country in the world to regulate the drugs as medications, clinical trials are also underway in the US, Canada and Israel.
Under the new regulations which became official in Australia on 1 July, approved psychiatrists can prescribe MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psilocybin for depression that has resisted other treatments.
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The Guardian
Australian psychiatrists can now prescribe MDMA and psilocybin: who can access them and how do they work?
The psychedelic drugs are used to treat PTSD and treatment-resistant depression
From July 1 psychiatrists in Australia will be able to prescribe MDMA and psilocybin for controlled clinical use. Australia’s medicines regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration,announced the changein February.
MDMA – 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, commonly known as ecstasy – will be used for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Psilocybin, a psychedelic that forms the active compound in magic mushrooms, will be able to be prescribed for treatment-resistant depression.
The two drugs will be down-scheduled from the strictest controlled category, schedule 9 (prohibited substances), to schedule 8 (controlled drugs), but only for medical use in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
The change makes Australia the first country in the world to down-schedule psilocybin and MDMA for clinical treatments, though some other countries make these drugs available through different regulatory pathways.
SBS News
In a world first, MDMA and psilocybin have been reclassified as medicine in Australia
But as the Australian Financia Review points out
Would you pay $30,000 to treat your depression?
Authorised psychiatrists will be able to prescribe psychedelics to eligible patients as of July 1, but the path ahead is far from straightforward.
Rossell believes psychedelics have the power to transform the treatment of psychiatric disorders.
But outside of clinical trials, she also believes hardly any eligible patients will be able to afford to access psychedelic-assisted therapy.
A limited supply of psychiatrists trained to administer the treatments, and what Rossell estimates to be a circa-$50 million shortfall in the research required to prove the therapies’ efficacy to government and insurers, means patients will be expected to fork out up to $30,000 per course to access the treatments.
It’s a sizeable sum. And according to psychiatrists, researchers and industry, the path to affordability is far from clear.
