Legal psychedelic assisted therapy in Australia
I was recently interviewed for an article by Cosmos Magazine, on the accessibility of psychedelic assisted therapy for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
In July 2023 Australia became the first country in the world to allow psychiatrists to prescribe psilocybin and MDMA but 6 months later less than 10 clinicians are approved to authorise the drugs for their patients.
Is this slow pace a sign of a cautious system working as it should, or are roadblocks being put in place by a nascent regulatory system? And, is the high cost of the treatment going to lead to more patients seeking the drugs through underground sources?
In a Melbourne clinic on 19 January, a quietly historic moment took place. A patient was legally administered MDMA as part of a therapeutic program to treat severe PTSD. The treatment was the first in Australia to take place outside of a controlled clinical trial, but due to an unexpected regulation the 2 primary therapists running the session, from the Monarch Mental Health Group, had to travel from NSW to complete it.
