Starting July 1, Australia will allow doctors to prescribe MDMA and magic mushrooms to treat PTSD and depression.
It’s a worldwide first that comes as research uncovers how psychedelic drugs have real potential for treating mental health conditions.
“Australia is creating an interesting model that could pave the way forward for the rest of the world,” Dr. Michael Alpert, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, told ABC News.
MDMA a synthetic hallucinogen, often linked to rave parties, also known as “molly” or “ecstasy.”
According to the new rules established by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), MDMA can prescribed only to treat PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) by authorized psychiatrists.
Psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, will only prescribed to treat depression that hasn’t responded to other therapies.
A large and growing body of medical and scientific evidence supports the use of psychedelics for mental health disorders.
Hedge fund billionaire and owner of the New York Mets Steve Cohen recently donated $5 million to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) for their efforts into legalizing the therapeutic uses of psychedelics.
