Australia has become the first country to allow the use of drugs containing the substances psilocybin (found in so-called hallucinogenic mushrooms) and MDMA (known as ecstasy) following approval by the country’s Drug Regulatory Authority (TSA).
The measure will take effect from July 1, according to a statement from the Therapeutic Assets Administration (TGA), issued on Friday and released today by the Australian media, saying that if allows both substances to be prescribed by “psychiatrists specifically licensed in the treatment of certain mental illnesses”.
Thus, the drug regulatory agency in Australia allows the prescription of the synthetic drug MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) for the treatment of post-traumatic stress syndrome and psilocybin for depression when the patient does not improve with other drugs.
“These are the only two diseases for which there is sufficient evidence of potential benefit for some patients”refers in the statement.
To prescribe drugs containing these substances, psychiatrists will need to obtain approval from the TCA, which will submit the request to an ethics committee of inquiry.
The TGA acknowledged the “lack of options” for patients with mental illnesses who resist treatment, but points out that it will be necessary to manage the potential adverse effects of these therapies.
It also underlines that the use of these substances outside of these two diseases remains prohibited.
While there are no licensed products on the Australian market containing any of those substances, the TGA will allow psychiatrists authorized to prescribe them to legally purchase “unapproved drugs” containing them.
Source: DN
