Australia greenlights psychedelics for depression while UK research falls further behind

Authorised psychiatrists in Australia can now prescribe MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. But as this sea change in treatment takes place, experts in the field have expressed concerns that strict licensing rules around psychedelic drugs has left the UK trailing behind other countries to the detriment of those who could benefit from them.

‘We’re so far off the pace now,’ David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London told Chemistry World.

In Australia, the decision to approved MDMA, the active component of the drug ecstasy, and psilocybin derived from ‘magic mushrooms’ was a consequence of the lack of options for patients with specific treatment-resistant mental illnesses. Psychiatrists wanting to prescribe these drugs will need to be approved by the Australian medicines regulator following approval by a human research ethics committee. The scheme allows prescribing permissions to be granted under strict controls that ensure the safety of patients.