XPost: aus.politics, talk.politics.guns   
   From: no.gun.australia@hallucinating.cons   
      
   SYDNEY (AP) — Australia is now the first country to allow psychiatrists to   
   prescribe certain psychedelic substances to patients with depression or   
   post-traumatic stress disorder.   
      
   Beginning Saturday, Australian physicians can prescribe doses of MDMA,   
   also known as ecstasy, for PTSD. Psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient   
   in psychedelic mushrooms, can be given to people who have hard-to-treat   
   depression. The country put the two drugs on the list of approved   
   medicines by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.   
      
   Scientists in Australia were surprised by the move, which was announced in   
   February but took effect July 1. One scientist said it puts Australia “at   
   the forefront of research in this field.”   
      
   Chris Langmead, deputy director of the Neuromedicines Discovery Centre at   
   the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, said there have been very   
   few advancements on treatment of persistent mental health issues in the   
   last 50 years.   
      
   The growing cultural acceptance has led two U.S. states to approve   
   measures for their use: Oregon was the first to legalize the adult use of   
   psilocybin, and Colorado’s voters decriminalized psilocybin in 2022. Days   
   ago, President Joe Biden’s youngest brother said in a radio interview that   
   the president has been “very open-minded” in conversations the two have   
   had about the benefits of psychedelics as a form of medical treatment.   
      
   The U.S. Food and Drug Administration designated psilocybin as a   
   “breakthrough therapy” in 2018, a label that’s designed to speed the   
   development and review of drugs to treat a serious condition. Psychedelics   
   researchers have benefited from federal grants, including Johns Hopkins,   
   and the FDA released draft guidance late last month for researchers   
   designing clinical trials testing psychedelic drugs as potential   
   treatments for a variety of medical conditions.   
      
   Still, the American Psychiatric Association has not endorsed the use of   
   psychedelics in treatment, noting the FDA has yet to offer a final   
   determination.   
      
   And medical experts in the U.S. and elsewhere, Australia included, have   
   cautioned that more research is needed on the drugs’ efficacy and the   
   extent of the risks of psychedelics, which can cause hallucinations.   
      
   “There are concerns that evidence remains inadequate and moving to   
   clinical service is premature; that incompetent or poorly equipped   
   clinicians could flood the space; that treatment will be unaffordable for   
   most; that formal oversight of training, treatment, and patient outcomes   
   will be minimal or ill-informed,” said Dr. Paul Liknaitzky, head of Monash   
   University’s Clinical Psychedelic Lab.   
      
   Plus, the drugs will be expensive in Australia — about $10,000 (roughly   
   $6,600 U.S. dollars) per patient for treatment.   
      
   Litnaitzky said the opportunity for Australians to access the drugs for   
   specific conditions is unique.   
      
   “There’s excitement about drug policy progress," he said, "... about the   
   prospect of being able to offer patients more suitable and tailored   
   treatment without the constraints imposed by clinical trials and rigid   
   protocols.”   
      
   https://news.yahoo.com/australia-first-nation-let-patients-195137343.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)