TGA approves medicinal use of MDMA and psilocybin. Source: Alan Rockefeller, Mushroom Observer
Australia has just become the first country in the world to recognise medicinal psychedelics after the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved MDMA and magic mushrooms for mental health treatment.
TGA has announced that, from the 1st of July this year, MDMA can be prescribed to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and psilocybin (magic mushrooms) can be prescribed for treatment-resistant depression.
The prescribing of MDMA and psilocybin will be limited to authorised psychiatrists with extensive knowledge and expertise in mental health.
“These are the only conditions where there is currently sufficient evidence for potential benefits in certain patients,” said the TGA.
For psychiatrists to prescribe, they will need to be approved under the Authorised Prescriber Scheme by the TGA following approval by a human research ethics committee.
The TGA’s decision comes largely from the lack of treatment options for many patients with treatment-resistant mental illnesses.
“(The decision) means that psilocybin and MDMA can be used therapeutically in a controlled medical setting. However, patients may be vulnerable during psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, requiring controls to protect these patients,” the TGA said.
For their medical use, MDMA and psilocybin will be listed as Schedule 8 Controlled Substances under the Poisons Standard. For all other uses, they will remain Schedule 9 (Prohibited Substances).
Medicinal psychedelics will be on the par with medicinal cannabis, which has been a Schedule 8 drug since 2016.
This decision by the TGA comes at an important time as Australia, along with the rest of the world, battles with ever-increasing rates of mental illness.
According to a Harvard University study, while cases of mental illness have risen significantly in recent years, the development of effective medication has fallen short.
Another study on mice by Yale University found that just one dose of psilocybin can immediately increase neural connections in the brain so it can ‘reorganise and adapt’ to different situations.
