Australia Becomes the First Country to Legalize Medicines Containing Psychedelic Substances for Mental Health Conditions

Registered psychiatrists can now prescribe psychedelic drugs like MDMA and psilocybin for the treatment of certain mental health conditions in Australia, making them the first country to allow this procedure.

Prescribing Psychedelic Drugs for Patients with Mental Health Conditions

Australia's regulatory agency Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) announced that it would now approve psychiatrists or physicians under the Authorized Prescriber Scheme, allowing them to prescribe psychedelic drugs for patients with mental health conditions. Interesting Engineering reported that this makes Australia the first country to allow this prescription process.

Although this move may be controversial to some, this move has been hailed as a game changer by researchers, scientists, and many health experts as it puts the country at the forefront of research in the medical field. Neuromedicines Discovery Centre Deputy Director Chris Langmead stated that this is only one of the few advances in mental health issues for the past 50 years.

MDMA, known as ecstasy, will be prescribed for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while psilocybin, known as psychedelic mushrooms, will be prescribed for patients with treatment-resistant depression. As per TGA's observance, these two illnesses are the only health conditions that have proven effective in certain patients.

Cons of Psychedelic Drug Prescriptions

Others have been saying that the allowance of psychedelic drugs for prescription should not be overhyped as there is still the risk of a "bad trip" or unpleasant experiences under the influence of these drugs, BBC reported that these can cause hallucinations, which is the number one concern of psychiatrists regarding the efficacy of the drug.

Monash University's Clinical Psychedelic Lab Head Dr. Paul Liknaitzky stated, "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."

Additionally, these also concern the scientific community as they believed that these drugs are not for all patients struggling with depression or PTSD. The Swinburne University of Technology Psychiatrist Susan Rossell stated that they have to work out identifying people who are going to have experiences as it is really not for everybody.

The government of Australia announced this decision of prescribing psychedelic drugs only in February this year. But the prescription law for these drugs took effect last Saturday, July 1. Different countries allow individuals to use these bridges on compassionate grounds or in clinical trials, including the United States, Israel, and Canada.

Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration of the United States designated psilocybin as a breakthrough therapy five years ago, Sky News reported that this was designed to speed up the development and review of drugs to treat a serious condition.