By Daniel Itai
The Australian Government has officially legalized the use of psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and MDMA (ecstasy) for treating depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Although magic mushrooms themselves are not directly used, their main psychoactive ingredient, psilocybin, will be employed in the treatment process.
MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy and psilocybin, found in hallucinogenic mushrooms, are the substances that have gained approval from Australia’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). The TGA’s decision comes after nearly three years of thorough
consideration and extensive consultations with experts.
The regulatory body emphasized that psilocybin and MDMA are considered relatively safe when administered in medically controlled settings under the supervision of appropriately trained healthcare professionals, using dosages studied in clinical trials.
Originally developed as an appetite suppressant in 1912, ecstasy was utilized in therapy sessions in the United States until the mid-1970s when it was outlawed.
Subsequently, it made its way into Australia in the 1980s as a party drug due to its reported effects of increased energy, empathy, and pleasure, leading to its criminalization in 1987.
However, in the 2000s, research on these substances resumed, with recent trials demonstrating their potential to rapidly improve symptoms of severe depression, although the exact mechanisms are not yet fully understood.
While Australia has become the first country to regulate these drugs for medicinal purposes, clinical trials are also ongoing in the United States, Canada, and Israel.